


Full Bloom of Youth

by Hazel_Athena



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Age-Regression AU, Ensemble Cast, Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies, Fluff, Humour, M/M, Pining Ridiculousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 23:23:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14175600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazel_Athena/pseuds/Hazel_Athena
Summary: "Lord give me strength."It's an unusual phrase to hear come out of Jack Horne's mouth. He usually prefers to rely on more declaratory statements, as opposed to requests. However, as he gazes down at the sight before them, Faraday finds he's hard pressed to come up with something better.





	Full Bloom of Youth

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all, be forewarned that this is the most self-indulgent thing I've ever written. Seriously, you guys thought the werewolves were bad. But it was probably inevitable. I love age-regression/kidfic, and I've basically committed to hitting every AU trope in this fandom. *shrug*
> 
> Special shoutout to Andrea-Lyn, who, upon hearing that I was thinking of writing a fic where three of the seven get magically turned into kids, said "Oh man, what if tiny Vasquez gets a puppy?" instead of telling me to think of a less crazy idea. :P

"Lord give me strength."

It's an unusual phrase to hear come out of Jack Horne's mouth. He usually prefers to rely on more declaratory statements, as opposed to requests. However, as he gazes down at the sight before them, Faraday finds he's hard pressed to come up with something better.

Sam and Goodnight are tussling on the ground, a fact that's severely hindered by the way they've shrunk to appear roughly nine or ten years old, but their clothes haven't had the decency to do the same. Nearby, a miniaturized version of Vasquez who's even younger still - he can't be any more than three by Faraday's estimation - is watching them in alarm.

"What. The. Hell." He says simply, and Red and Billy, the remaining adult members of their crew, echo similar sentiments. "Someone please tell me I went on a bender without realizing it, and the whiskey's gone to my head."

"No," Red says flatly, and Faraday has a sudden urge to kick the little jackass. If he was a halfway decent sort, he'd let Faraday live in denial for at least a few more minutes.

Looking like a man in a stupor, Billy shakes his head and makes to move towards the squalling children. "We should stop them fighting, and probably get those guns out of their reach."

Startled, Faraday realizes that among the various pieces of gear and clothing that had fallen off their companions as a result of their change in stature, Sam's revolver, Goodnight's rifle, and Vasquez's pistols are all scattered around the ground. Getting them away from the kids is undoubtably a sound idea.

As Billy and Jack step in to pull Sam and Goodnight apart, Faraday decides he'll deal with the weapons. Unfortunately, all the movement has the effect of startling Vasquez even further, and he turns to try to run.

Luckily, he's even more hampered by his size than the other two, and he trips over the hem of his shirt before he gets more than a couple feet. Sprawled out in the dirt as he is, he doesn't have a hope in hell of stopping Red from picking him up off the ground and swaddling him up in his own, oversized clothes, thoroughly trapping him in place.

Obviously terrified, Vasquez wails as he's lifted into the air, and it takes a moment before Faraday realizes not a single word coming out of his mouth is in English. His stomach sinking, Faraday shifts over until he's directly in front of his friend.

"Vas. Vasquez!" He barks, snapping his fingers to further get the boy's attention. "Come on, Vas. Calm down. It's Faraday for crying out loud, you know me."

Except Faraday thinks, his alarm growing, he's not so sure that's true. There's not a lick of recognition showing in Vasquez's eyes, only confusion and fear as he struggles to escape the cloth prison Red has him ensconced in.

Red meets Faraday's eye, his own expression troubled. "This may be even worse than we first thought, and he is not happy."

"You don't say?" Faraday demands, feeling a little hysterical himself. "I don't think their bodies are the only thing that changed. I think their memories are affected too."

As if to further support this theory, Vasquez wails something in Spanish, and promptly bursts into tears.

"Alright," Faraday says, deciding enough is enough. He holds out his hands in an indication that Vasquez should be passed over. "Give him to me before he hurts himself."

"Are you serious?" Red hisses, his arms clenching more tightly around Vasquez's struggling form. "Have you ever even held a child before?"

Faraday honestly isn't sure, but he's not about to let that stop him. Squaring his shoulders, he gestures pointedly a second time. "You're scaring him. Hand him over."

Giving Faraday a dubious look, Red nevertheless slowly relinquishes his hold on Vasquez. However, this has the unintended consequence of providing the boy with more range of movement, and the second that happens, he twists around and sinks his teeth into Red's forearm.

Barking out a noise of surprise, Red loses ahold of his tiny burden, and Vasquez hits the ground running.

"Oh no you don't," Faraday exclaims. Moving faster than he has in recent memory, Faraday darts out with one hand extended, and wraps his fingers tightly around Vasquez's shirt, reeling him in until he's within proper grabbing distance. "Get over here, muchacho. The last thing we need is you taking off into the brush all worked up."

Vasquez babbles a stream of broken Spanish at him, flailing out with every available limb as Faraday struggles to contain him. It's a bit like what Faraday imagines wrestling a bag of live snakes must feel like.

"Hey hey hey, none of that, Vasquez! Come on, stoppit." Hoping like hell he's not about to get bitten like Red, Faraday turns Vasquez around until they're face to face. "Vas, look at me."

"Dónde está mi familia?" Vasquez whimpers, and Faraday looks up at Red like he might have any clue of what that means.

"Is it just me, or did that last word sound an awful lot like 'family'?" He asks.

Red shrugs. "No idea, but it would make sense. He's probably wondering where they are."

"Yeah," Faraday says sombrely, wishing he had any idea how he's supposed to explain the situation to a distraught toddler who doesn't appear to speak any English. Chances are good he can't, so avoidance may be the only option.

Wishing he spoke more than the handful of Spanish that he does, he waggles his fingers to get Vasquez's attention, poking himself in the chest once he succeeds. "Hey, Vas? Amigo. You hear that? You and me? We're amigos. We're good. Bueno."

Vasquez adamantly shakes his head. "No es bueno," he says miserably.

"Sí," Faraday insists. "Sí bueno, and yes, I know my accent is terrible, stop making that face like I'm about to make your ears bleed."

"He has no idea what you're saying," Red says helpfully, like Faraday couldn't tell that from Vasquez's uncomprehending stare. "Try something else."

"I don't know anything else," Faraday snarls, "or at least not anything I should say to a kid." A thought occurs to him. "You got any food on you? That might cheer him up."

Red shakes his head, and Faraday pats at his own vest one-handed, using the other to keep Vasquez in place. If he's remembering correctly, he'd stuffed a couple of biscuits in here somewhere when they'd left camp.

"Aha," feeling his fingers trace around a familiar shape, he pulls a biscuit free, offering it up to Vasquez with a flourish. "There we go! What do you say? You hungry, Vas?"

The biscuit's so close to his face, Vasquez practically goes cross eyed trying to look at it, but his expression shifts to intrigued when he realizes what it is. "Panecillo?" He asks.

"I have no idea," Faraday admits, but he feels like they're approaching a tentative truce when Vasquez stops wriggling to get free, and reaches out for the food. "It's all yours if you want it, little man."

Vasquez snatches the biscuit from Faraday's hand, and crams a huge bite into his mouth. He sprays crumbs everywhere as he murmurs something incomprehensible around it, and Faraday uses the distraction to adjust his grip and hoist him onto his hip.

"Nicely done, Faraday," Jack says, and when Faraday turns around he finds that Billy and the old bear are each maintaining a grip on Goodnight and Sam respectively, keeping the two boys a minimum five feet apart as they glare sullenly at each other.

"What's with those two?" Faraday asks, nodding at each boy and getting matching scowls in answer.

Billy flashes a rare facial expression, this one being that of exasperation. "Apparently being ten, scared, and alone has them both a little on edge. Also, Goody accused Sam of kidnapping him before we got here."

A heavy silence descends over the group, broken only by the sound of Vasquez munching away on his biscuit.

"Well," Faraday says finally. "Isn't this going to be fun?"

Vasquez finishes off his biscuit and pokes Faraday in the chin with a crumb dusted finger. "Puedo tener otro?" He chirps, eyes huge and pleading.

Faraday sighs. "It is going to be a long day."

*****

"We can't keep them out here." Jack makes this declaration about half an hour later when they've returned to their campsite to try and sort out what to do. "In the middle of a job is no place for a bunch of children."

"You think?" Billy asks sarcastically. He's starting to look a little frazzled, but Faraday imagines seeing one's life partner regress in age by about thirty five years is liable to have that kind of effect on a man. Especially given the fact that, to put none to fine a point on it, ten year old Goodnight is a snot-nosed brat who keeps insisting they're all going to be in for a world of hurt for taking him from his family.

"And here was me thinking he couldn't get more irritating," Faraday mutters low under his breath as Goodnight kicks out at Sam, who all too happily responds in kind. With the sides of the war they'd first ended up on, he supposes a mutual dislike is to be expected at this stage, but as he watches Jack and Billy yank the pair apart yet again, he finds he can't feel anything but relief at the thought of his own charge.

"At least you're relatively well-behaved," he tells Vasquez, earning himself his umpteenth wide-eyed stare of the day. "Though I suppose that could be due to abject terror."

In answer, Vasquez chomps down on the latest biscuit Faraday's provided for him. Chewing hurriedly, he glances around their campsite, his gaze eventually landing on the spot where the horses are tied. "Caballos," he says pointing.

"Say what now?" Faraday asks. Following Vasquez's finger, he shrugs. "You mean the horses? Okay, you wanna go see 'em?" He jerks his head in the animals' direction, and at Vasquez's nod carries him over.

"There you go. Horses. Very exciting and not at all something you've seen a thousand times before." Unwilling to put Vasquez down in the event that he wander too close and get stepped on, Faraday walks up to Jack, curious to see how his temperamental mount will react to this latest upset.

Happily, Jack's initial thought isn't to bite, kick, or otherwise try and stomp Vasquez into the ground. Instead he noses curiously at the boy where he's resting in Faraday's arms, whickering softly when Vasquez pets the side of his face with a tiny hand.

"His name's Jack," Faraday says slowly, stroking the horse's neck with his own hand. "Can you say that? Jack?"

"Jack," Vasquez dutifully repeats, and it's not perfect, his accent is far thicker now than it will be once he's grown, but it gets the point across. It also catches the attention of Vasquez's own mount.

Shoving her way out of the pack, the sturdy white mare comes in close, nudging at Vasquez's shoulder like she recognizes her rider even in spite of his reduced size. Faraday laughs, petting her too. "And this here's Ciela. She's a lovely lady."

It's like he's uttered some kind of magic word. Vasquez's entire face transforms, and he bounces in Faraday's arms excitedly, arms outstretched for the horse. "Ciela," he repeats. "Ciela!"

"I take it that means something to you?" Faraday asks. He's always figured it was some kind of Spanish name, and now it appears he was right.

Squirming around, Vasquez raises one tiny hand in the air, pointing adamantly upwards. "Ciela!" He says again.

Faraday looks up. "You talking about the sky, little man? Is that what it means?" He supposes that could be a somewhat fitting name for the horse, and it sounded like something grown Vasquez might come up with.

Instead of answering, Vasquez reorients himself, and pokes Faraday dead centre in the chest. "¿Cuál es tu nombre?"

Now it's Faraday's turn to draw a blank. "Sorry, Vas. What?"

Vasquez sighs, looking remarkably disdainful for a child so young. He points at the two horses, first one then the other. "Ciela. Jack." Back to Faraday. "Quien?"

"Oh." Understanding finally hitting, Faraday taps the same spot on his chest with two of his own fingers. "Joshua," he says, feeling a little ridiculous at having to introduce himself to someone who's known him for the better part of two years. "Joshua Faraday."

Vasquez's mouth moves soundlessly for a moment. Then. "Joshua," he says, sounding pleased with himself. The heavy accent is still there, pronouncing the first syllable with a y instead of a j, but it's good enough for Faraday.

"Joshua," he agrees, "and Vasquez."

Except apparently not. Vasquez's nose wrinkles in distaste, and he thumps his chest with one tiny fist. "Alejo," he says in a voice that brokes no argument.

"Huh." Faraday says, considering. Thinking it over, he supposes that makes sense. Not many children this young are referred to by their last names. That kind of tradition typically comes much later in life. "Alright, Alejo it is."

"Sí," Vasquez agrees solemnly.

"Are you two done bonding yet?" Seemingly materializing out of nowhere, Red nearly gives Faraday a heart attack, and worse, almost makes him drop Vasquez.

"Jesus Christ, Red!" Faraday barks, his heart beating about a mile a minute. "Warn a man, would you?"

Red rolls his eyes, but makes no further comment, choosing instead to survey the milling horses. "We're going back to Rose Creek," he says, referring to the town they've been using as a home base in the year since everyone had recovered sufficiently from their injuries earned defending it. "We'll get the children to safety, and then see about going after whoever did this."

"I think it's fair to say we know who did this," Faraday mutters. Shifting Vasquez into a more comfortable position, he stares down at the boy in his arms and thinks that he'd give just about anything to have him normal again. "The Sheriff who gave Sam that warrant said there was something strange about this bounty. Looks like he was right."

"Yes," Red agrees, "but we already tracked her down once," he says, referring to the thief they'd been hunting all day until events had gone so disastrously awry. "We can do it again."

"And what's to stop her from doing this again?" Lifting Vasquez ever so slightly higher, Faraday uses him to illustrate his point. "If she could do it to three men who had her cornered, I don't see why she can't do it to four."

"We'll regroup in Rose Creek," Red says simply. "Come up with a new plan."

Faraday's not so sure he shares his optimism. Unfortunately, he's definitely sure he has no other choice. Sighing, he adjusts Vasquez slightly on his hip and begins heading for the main campsite to get ready to go.

*****

Getting underway turns out to be a hell of a hassle. Sam and Goodnight are too small to handle their usual mounts, and Vasquez is so young he doesn't know how to ride period. In the end, each boy winds up riding double with the man who's been minding him the most, while Red goes on ahead free of any encumbrances.

Faraday's initially afraid of how Jack will handle carrying a second, delicate passenger, but the horse seems to have found a well of hidden patience from somewhere because when Faraday swings into the saddle and holds out his arms for Vasquez, Jack doesn't so much as blink. Even more tellingly - he moves in a gait far more laconic than usual.

"Alejo, I think you broke my horse," Faraday mutters after they've been riding for about an hour, and Jack's unusual behaviour has started to make his skin crawl. "What the heck did you do?"

"¿Qué?" When Faraday had first begun speaking, Vasquez had been craned around watching Ciela plod along behind them on the end of a lead rope. Now he turns around at the sound of his name, giving Faraday a curious look, one just this side of troubled.

Struck by a sudden urge to wipe that look away, Faraday strokes a gentle hand through Vasquez's curls, trying to instil a sense of calm in him. "Never mind, little man, it wasn't anything important."

Because they'd only set out on their current mission a few hours before the incident - a fact that Faraday finds difficult to believe in light of all that's happened - Rose Creek appears on the horizon just as the sun is beginning to think about setting. They ride past the outskirts of town in the fading light, trotting down Main Street to the boarding house where a number of them keep rooms.

"Faraday and I will see to the horses," Jack decides, somehow having become their de facto leader in Sam's absence. You two get the little ones inside. Maybe see about finding some supper for them, not to mention clothes that fit."

Sliding off Jack's back with Vasquez held securely in his arms, Faraday's struck by the notion that the boy's still wearing only an oversized shirt that's practically hanging off him. Admittedly they hadn't had anything better to give him during the ride, but they need to remedy that as soon as possible.

"You good to take him?" He asks as Red approaches, strangely reluctant to hand his tiny charge over.

"If he'll let me," Red replies.

"I guess we'll see." Vasquez makes a dubious face as he's passed from one man to the other, but otherwise doesn't put up a fuss. Faraday breathes a sigh of relief. "Looks like he's okay."

Holding Vasquez awkwardly cradled in his arms, Red frowns where the boy can't see him. "Let's hope so, but try and be quick. He seems to like you more than anyone else."

"Just bribe him with food," Faraday says dismissively. "It worked for me."

Faraday and Jack make reasonably quick work of the horses, but it still takes longer than usual since it's just the two of them handling seven beasts. Even worse, at one point Jack clears his throat pointedly in a way he that suggests he has something he wants to say.

"Don't try and pretend this isn't harder on you than most, son." When Faraday reluctantly glances over, he finds Jack giving him a knowing look. "I know better than that."

Faraday is not having this conversation. He knows what the old hunter is getting at - knows he's going to try and make him talk about feelings while they're alone together - and he's frankly having none of it.

"Ain't got a clue what you're getting at, old man," he says mulishly. "And I'll thank you to quit distracting me from the job at hand. Let's just finish this and get back to the boys."

Jack makes an exasperated noise, one that clearly says he thinks Faraday is being pigheaded, but thankfully lapses into silence until they're done.

They return to find the boarding house in absolute chaos. Laura Mae, the woman who runs the place, is loudly proclaiming that her establishment is no place for children, and someone must have run to spread the news about town because Emma, Teddy Q and the preacher are all clustered by the table talking loudly over one another along with Red and Billy.

Seated with their half-eaten suppers in front of them, Sam and Goodnight are watching proceedings with matching looks of fascination on their faces, appearing more intrigued than anything else. Vasquez, however, looks ready to burst into to tears at any moment, his upset noticeably increasing the louder the voices get.

Suspecting they're mere seconds away from an impressive set of hysterics, Faraday strides through the crowd, making a beeline right for him. "Hey, muchacho," he says, opening his arms to see what Vasquez wants to do. "You wanna come up?"

Scrambling precariously in his seat, Vasquez stands on his chair, and just ... reaches. Tiny grasping fingers strain in their air as he wobbles, waiting for Faraday to get him. Once he does, those same fingers tighten on his shirt collar as Vasquez hides his face in the fabric of Faraday's vest.

"Poor thing," Faraday murmurs sympathetically. Struck with a surge of protective feelings, he glances around at the people milling about, unable to believe that none of them have pulled their heads out of their asses long enough to spot the effect their bickering is having.

"Hey," he hisses, pitching his voice low in the hopes of not upsetting Vasquez further. "You idiots maybe want to tone it down a little? You're scaring him."

As one, the remaining adults fall silent and shift to look at Faraday.

He glares back.

The preacher - Faraday can never remember his real name, and right now he doesn't particularly care to learn it - is the first to speak. Clearing his throat, he flashes a sheepish grin, and shrugs. "Apologies, Mr. Faraday, but you can imagine how we're all a bit shocked by recent developments."

"Sure," Faraday replies. "Now imagine how he feels," he says, tapping Vasquez's back with one finger. "Or them," he adds, nodding at Sam and Goodnight. "You maybe want to take that into consideration and knock off all the hollering?"

As one, their expressions all turn charinged. "Ah, of course," the preacher says finally. "That certainly sounds like a good course of action."

"Pity it's the only course of action we seem to have," Laura Mae snorts. Tossing a messy braid over her shoulder, she crosses her arms over her chest and glares around the circle. "As I keep saying, this is no place for these boys to stay."

Emma snorts. "It's a boarding house," she says scathingly. "It's whole point of existing is to give a place to stay to people who don't have one."

"Not for random, unattended children, it isn't," Laura Mae disagrees, and Faraday clears his throat heavily to cut them off before their voices start rising again.

"Ladies," he says firmly when they both turn to look at him, "we don't have time for this shit. It's late, everybody's dead on their feet, and these kids have to go somewhere. Unless," he concludes, glaring at Laura Mae, "you'd rather have them sleep out in the elements, or in a barn or something."

"These children are not sleeping in a barn," Emma declares, even as Goodnight starts making noise about his Mama letting him sleeping in his treehouse once. "We're going to find them proper nightclothes and make sure each one of them has a bed to call his own."

"Missus Frankel's already seeing to the nightclothes," Teddy says, speaking up for the first time. "She was in here eyeballing the size of each of 'em a bit ago, and went off to borrow from folks who've got little ones a similar age."

"A good woman, to be sure," Jack says stoutly. "No doubt she'll be back soon, and that will only leave the issue of beds."

"Oh alright," Laura Mae grumbles, exasperated. "We can put them all in a room together for the night, drag in a couple cots so they each have their own bed, and get them down for the evening. I'm only taking them for tonight, though. Tomorrow we find better accommodations."

"Fine," Faraday says, not wanting to fight her any longer. If necessary they can reopen the argument tomorrow once everybody's had some sleep. "Now that that's settled, this one has supper he needs to finish, and I wouldn't say no to a plate of my own."

As Laura Mae bustles off to see about meals for Faraday and Jack, he wanders back to the table, and tries to get Vasquez back in the chair he'd previously vacated - an act he winds up having no luck in completing because it turns out Vasquez won't let go of his neck.

"To hell with this," Faraday mutters, earning himself a disapproving stare from Jack. "You want to stay with me," he says, speaking directly to Vasquez, "fine. Here we go."

Claiming the empty chair for himself, he settles Vasquez in his lap and draws the boy's abandoned supper closer. "You just get back to eating then."

Silence descends around the room, but Faraday ignores it until Vasquez picks up his fork and begins cautiously chewing a bite of food. Only then does he look up and find every remaining adult staring at him. "What?"

Emma smirks, or tries to rather. There's something odd in her expression. "You're good with him."

Faraday shrugs, not wanting to get into it with her. "He's well behaved, that's all."

Emma makes a face like she doesn't believe him, but also doesn't want to push. Then Laura Mae returns laden down with supper plates, and by the time the food is mostly gone, its dark out and Leni Frankel's wandering in with her arms full of clothes.

"I did the best I could in the time frame," she says, dumping the clothing on the nearest empty table. "I doubt any of it's going to be a perfect fit, but there's enough to get them through the night, and I managed to get at least one day's worth of clothes for each of them."

"That's wonderful, ma'am," Jack says, ever the gentleman where the widow is concerned. Faraday honestly wonders why he hasn't up and married her at this point. They're both clearly interested. "Thank you for your help."

She flashes him a bright smile, and begins sorting through the pile. "It's the least I could do," she says, "what with the poor dears already having to ride all this way in those oversized clothes. They look ... well, you know."

Holding up the smallest of the nightshirts, she nods to where Vasquez has finished up his meal, and is now letting his gaze roam around the room, taking the details in. "Mr. Faraday, if you like I can get him ready for bed while you finish up your food."

Struck by the sudden realization of just how much he doesn't want to deal with getting Vasquez dressed and undressed, Faraday nods without thinking, and pushes his chair back to give Leni room to grab the boy.

Draping the nightshirt over her shoulder, she smiles kindly as she reaches down to take him. "Here we go, sweetheart," she croons. "Now, you come with me for a bit, and we'll get you into something more comfortable."

From the look on Vasquez's face, he's as unsure about these proceedings as ever, but he lets Leni take him without a word, so Faraday's going to consider it a win.

"Well, that's one down," Emma says as Leni carries Vasquez to the back room, and closes the door behind her. "Time to get these two sorted as well. Sam, Goodnight, up you get."

At the sound of their names, both boys scramble out of their seats, no doubt spurred on by Emma's no nonsense tone. "I want that one," Goodnight declares, pointing at the clothing held in Emma's left hand. "He can have the other one."

"Maybe I don't want the other one," Sam snaps, and just like that the two of them are off again.

"Oh I can't wait to see what they're like when they have to share a room all night," Faraday says as Billy wades into the fray before it can become an all out punching match. "Can you believe these two?"

Beside him, Red grunts. "They're children," he says flatly. "Children act in foolish ways."

Thinking back to some of the stunts he'd pulled as a kid, Faraday finds he cannot disagree.

The argument between Sam and Goodnight ends when Emma wades into the fray and shakes them both by the scruff of the neck. Determining that Sam is the slightly larger child, he therefore receives the slightly larger clothing, and both boys are ordered upstairs to change under her watchful glower.

"Way to put the fear of god into 'em," Faraday says while Billy looks like he wants to ask her to teach him how to do what she's just done. "Those two monsters have been at each other's throats all day. Vas is the only of the three who's been halfway decently behaved."

"And speak of the devil," Teddy says. Nodding his head towards the back of the room as the sound of a door creaking on its hinges rings out. "Looks like missus Frankel has him ready to go."

Craning his neck to look behind him, Faraday finds that Teddy's right. Leni's remerged from the other room with Vasquez shuffling along ahead of her wearing a nightshirt that dwarfs his tiny frame, albeit not nearly so badly as his adult sized clothing previously had.

"All ready," Leni says as they weave between the scattered tables. "And I think he's looking forward to getting his head down too. He was yawning the whole time I had him back there. Do we know where we're putting them yet?"

"Laura Mae went off to get a room put together once she brought supper out," Emma supplies. "I imagine she's done by now."

"Good, then it's off to bed for this one." Scooping Vasquez off the ground, Leni eyes the rest of them thoughtfully. "You boys might want to follow suit too. Every last one of you looks exhausted."

"I'm fine," Red grunts, but he's the only one who holds that opinion. For his part, Faraday wants nothing more than to put this whole day behind him, a sentiment Jack and Billy seem to share. The three of them leave Red and the others downstairs, choosing instead to trudge after Leni as she heads for the second floor.

There's light streaming through an open door at the far end of the hall, no doubt where Laura Mae's getting the cots set up, but Faraday stops in front of the door to his usual room. He's tired, and there should be no reason he's needed to get the boys to bed.

No reason that is, aside from a small voice calling his name upon realizing he's no longer following along. His hand resting on the doorknob to his room, Faraday looks up and finds Leni stopped in the middle of the hallway with Vasquez looking intently over her shoulder.

"I don't think you're quite done yet," she says firmly, and Faraday sighs, but follows her since he knows he's beat. Although that doesn't stop him from glaring at Jack and Billy as both of them pass him right on by.

Goodnight and Sam are already bundled into the two single beds that are normally in the room. Sam looks to be already mostly asleep, while at the foot of the beds, Laura Mae is putting the finishing touches on a cot that's no doubt going to hold Vasquez.

She looks up as they enter the room, her expression unreadable. "There should be more than enough blankets in here. I don't think we'll have to worry about any of them being cold. Past that, though," she shrugs. "Whatever's going on is beyond me."

"You ain't the only one," Faraday replies, "but thanks for getting things ready." Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Leni set Vasquez down on his cot and nudge him gently under the covers.

Vasquez lets himself be prodded into place, but he looks less than thrilled about it. Catching Faraday's eye where he's hovering in the doorway, he stretches out a hand, expression pleading. "Joshua? Quedate conmigo. Por favor?"

While he may not understand the exact words, Faraday can get the gist of Vasquez's meaning. Sighing, he crosses the room to sit down on the edge of the cot. "I can't stay, little man," he says, patting Vasquez's knee through the blankets. "There's no room for me."

Obviously sensing the denial in what Faraday's telling him, Vasquez's lower lip trembles. He picks at a few loose strands on his blanket, looking up at Faraday with sad eyes. "Estoy asustado," he whispers.

Wishing he could translate that beyond Vasquez indicating he's upset, Faraday gestures for the boy to lay down. "Everything's going to be okay," he says gently. Drawing the blankets up, he wraps them around Vasquez's slender frame, hoping they'll give him a sense of security. "You just get your head down and try to rest. I'll see you in the morning."

Vasquez makes a barely audible noise of protest when Faraday stands, but he quiets with a single look. Patting him one last time, Faraday walks out of the room, hoping as he goes that the poor kid gets at least a little sleep tonight.

*****

Faraday wakes with the feeling that he's not alone. About to grab for the gun he always keeps within reach, he happens to glance down before he does, and finds himself staring at a distraught, tear-stained face, barely visible in the dim moonlight streaming into the room.

"Shit," he says succinctly, suddenly feeling somehow more exhausted than he had before he'd let his head hit the pillow. "Vas, what the hell? You're supposed to be in with the others."

Vasquez stares up at him uncomprehendingly, and then, hiccuping wetly, he stretches up his arms in an obvious request for assistance.

"No, oh hell no," Faraday says, faintly hysterical as he thinks about how Jack Horne would react to hearing him swear in front of a child, before deciding that's not what he needs to be worrying about now. "Absolutely not."

Vasquez's face crumples, and his hiccups morph into actual sobs as tears begin streaming down his cheeks.

"Oh shit, no! None of that, no crying. There's nothing to cry about, fuck." Shoving his blanket aside, Faraday swings his legs over the side of the bed before he realizes what he's doing, and holds out his arms.

"Alright, come here if that's what you want." Letting out an oomphing sound as Vasquez flings his surprisingly heavy body against his chest, Faraday folds the boy into his arms, and climbs carefully to his feet.

"Shh, it's okay," he says. Dredging up memories from a distant and not overly pleasant childhood, Faraday rubs a hand over Vasquez's trembling back as he begins pacing back and forth across the floor, rocking him gently. "Don't cry."

Passing by the door to his room - slightly ajar from where Vasquez must have slipped through it - he briefly considers marching over to the room where the other children are bedded down. However, Vasquez's wailing increases when he steps closer, so instead he sighs and flicks it closed.

"Looks like you're staying here for the night," Faraday murmurs as he continues rubbing Vasquez's back. "You've gotta calm down though, yeah? No more crying."

Vasquez chokes out a stream of words that sound like so much nonsense to Faraday, minus one. Mama.

"Damnit," Faraday mutters under his breath. "Honestly, I'd take you to her if I could, but I don't know if the woman's even alive today. Sorry, muchacho, but I think you're stuck with us."

Despite his own exhaustion, Faraday keeps up his pacing until the motion finally lulls Vasquez to sleep, and then he carefully lays his tiny form down on the bed, tucking the blankets around him securely so he won't fall out.

"Don't think we're going to be making a habit of this," he mutters as he claims the other side of the bed for himself. "First of all, I am not the paternal type, and I'm the worst person to be responsible for you as long as you're like this. Second of all, I expect you to change back to your normal self very soon. Don't leave me hanging, you hear?"

Sound asleep, which Faraday supposes he should be grateful for, Vasquez doesn't answer.

*****

The next time Faraday wakes its morning, and he finds Vasquez has migrated during the night so that he's now sprawled across Faraday's chest, breathing heavily into his neck. Faraday groans, rubbing tiredly at his temples. "This can't be happening," he says to the ceiling. "This is not how I wanted to have him end up in my bed."

If he's expecting the ceiling to offer up any answers, he winds up sorely mistaken. Instead, he's surprised to hear the sound of a door opening and closing nearby, followed by raised voices and running feet.

"Jesus, what now?" Faraday wonders. Cupping a hand protectively around Vasquez's back, he wonders if he should stay where he is or go see what's going on.

He's still pondering as much when the decision is abruptly made for him. The hurried footsteps stop right outside his room, and his door is unceremoniously flung open with far more force than necessary by a frantic looking Billy.

"Faraday, get the hell up! Vasquez is - oh." Trailing off in the face of Faraday's insistent shushing, Billy looks down at where Vasquez thankfully remains sound asleep despite the pandemonium. "How long has he been with you?"

Placing a finger over his lips to indicate that Billy's speaking too loudly, Faraday waits for the other man to nod before replying. Moving his finger away from his mouth, he murmurs, "He showed up in the middle of the night, and threw a fit when I tried to take him back to the others. I've had him ever since."

"Alright. Sam and Goody stayed in the room, but they're up now and looking for breakfast. I guess just - bring him down when he's ready." Looking as out of his depth as Faraday's ever seen him, Billy shrugs and closes the door as he leaves.

Letting his head fall back against the pillow, Faraday breathes out a heavy sigh. "I can't believe this shit."

"¿Qué?"

Jerking his head around, Faraday cranes his neck down to find Vasquez blinking sleepily up at him, his brown eyes confused. "Hey, Vas - er, Alejo. How're you doing today?"

Vasquez wrinkles his nose, looking unhappy. Terrified he's going to start asking for his mother yet again, Faraday sits up slowly in the hopes of distracting him. "Are you hungry? You want some breakfast?"

Doing his best to mime eating with his hands, Faraday can tell the exact moment Vasquez the message. He perks up a bit, nodding his head in agreement of the suggestion.

"Good stuff." Shuffling over carefully, Faraday lifts Vasquez over the side of the bed to set him down on the floor. "We'll get something in that belly of yours, and then see if anyone's come up with a plan for how to fix this."

Faraday contemplates the idea of getting fully dressed before heading downstairs, but in the end decides feeding Vasquez is more important. Settling for tugging on yesterday's breeches and a shirt that's seen better days, he grabs his boots and makes his way out of the room, following Vasquez's shuffling form.

"You watch yourself on those stairs," he says, forgetting yet again that Vasquez can't understand him. It's only when Vasquez stumbles over the hem of his pajama shirt and almost pitches face first down the whole flight that he remembers.

"Whoa whoa!" Lurching forward to grab Vasquez by the back of his shirt, he steadies the little wobbling body and sets him back upright. "Alright, hang on." Sitting himself down on the stairs he makes quick work of tugging on his boots, and then takes Vasquez by the hand. "You just stick with me for now."

Even with help the stairs are almost too high for Vasquez to manage, but Faraday's loath to pick him up again since he's basically spent the last twenty four hours being carried everywhere.

Finally they make it to the bottom where Faraday spots Billy seated at a table with Sam and Goodnight flanking him on either side. For once the two are blessedly not at each other's throats, choosing instead to concentrate on the large bowls of porridge set in front of them.

"Morning," Faraday greets, remembering that he hadn't done so when Billy had burst into his room earlier. "How'd everybody sleep?"

"These two went down and stayed down, probably worn out by all the excitement," Billy says as Faraday pulls back a chair and lets Vasquez clamber into it. "He went for a wander?"

Faraday nods. "Not much of one, but yeah. I woke up feeling like something was in the room, looked over and there were these great big eyes staring at me from over the mattress. I reckon he had a nightmare, and waking up in a strange place only made it worse."

Billy makes a face that Faraday suspects is meant to be sympathetic, but mainly just looks tired. He doesn't think he's ever seen the ex-prize fighter appear so out of sorts. Not that he blames him, of course. Faraday's got plenty of reasons for wanting Vasquez back to his old self, and Billy's are if anything stronger where Goodnight's concerned.

Telling himself that's not a road he wants to go down as such thoughts will only make him depressed, Faraday resolves to deal with one problem he can fix, and goes in search of breakfast.

*****

"So, what's the plan?"

Faraday looks up from where he's been keeping Vasquez occupied by performing card tricks, and finds Teddy Q sitting across from him at their previously empty table. He eyes Teddy warily for a second, before nodding at Vasquez in his lap. "Do I look like I'm involved in any plan making right now? I've spent the whole morning just trying to keep this one calm."

Following breakfast, the children had been herded back upstairs to get washed and dressed for the day, once again at the hands of Leni, who'd showed up looking like a woman on a mission, never mind that she had her own children in need of looking after. Grateful for the help, Faraday hadn't protested, and had instead gone to clean up himself.

His solitude hadn't lasted long, however. He'd just finished doing up the last button of his vest when a knock had rung out, chased by Leni's voice asking if he was decent. Acknowledging that he was had then resulted in his door being opened to reveal her standing there with Vasquez - still barefoot, but otherwise properly dressed for the first time in twenty four hours - clinging to her skirts.

"I don't understand much of what he's saying," she'd told him apologetically, "but what I can involves your name. Will you take him?"

Reasonably certain there'd never been any doubt as to what his answer would be, Faraday had nodded and beckoned Vasquez forward with a wave of his hand. "Where are the others?"

Leni had made a face. "Emma and Mr. Horne are questioning the older boys on if they remember anything. I think the hope is something might jar loose that can be used to fix matters. Mr. Rocks appears to be supervising proceedings, and I haven't seen Red Harvest all morning."

"Alright," Faraday had said, not really sure he was making the right decision, but going with it anyway. "I guess you can leave this one with me, and we'll go from there."

Nodding, Leni had made her goodbyes, and then it'd been him and Vasquez alone in the room. Faraday had gazed down at his little charge, wondering what to do next while Vasquez had stared solemnly back.

Finally, a thought had occurred to him. Reaching into his vest pocket, he'd pulled his deck of cards free and begun shuffling them in his hands. Vasquez had watched the paper pieces glide through his fingers, seeming intrigued, and Faraday had grinned. "You ever seen a magic trick, little man?"

Vasquez had taken to the tricks like a duck to water, and he was still insisting Faraday keep them up even after they'd migrated downstairs to wait for the others to appear. Currently he's holding a handful of cards in his own grasp, eying them like if he stares hard enough he can make them work the way Faraday does.

"¿Qué es esto?" He asks, holding up a specific card.

"Queen of Spades," Faraday replies dutifully, the same way he has been all morning.

Teddy looks pained. "Please tell me you're not teaching him how to gamble."

"Please," Faraday scoffs. "He's what? Three? Not even I started that young. He just likes the pictures, is all. Right, Vas?"

Vasquez dutifully holds up a copy of a Joker.

"Very funny," Faraday drawls while Teddy starts snickering. "Little smartass, aren't you?" He adds, ruffling a hand through Vasquez's curls.

"Little's certainly one word for him," Teddy agrees, "and I don't just mean generally." Pursing his lips, he eyes Vasquez critically. "Doesn't he seem small for his age to you?"

"How the hell can he?" Faraday asks. Sure, Vasquez is small enough to be carried one handed right now, but Teddy's forgotten a key detail. "We don't have any idea for certain how old he is. So far the best guess has been 'around three', and that was from us taking a stab at it. He could be younger."

Teddy makes a show of looking Vasquez up and down. "If he's three it's an awful tiny three. Hard to believe he's going to grow up as big as he is."

"Well he will," Faraday says tersely. "Hopefully sooner rather than later."

Clearly sensing he's touched a nerve, Teddy holds his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm sure we'll sort everything out," he says, "and no doubt it'll be quick."

"Damn right it will be." Faraday doesn't quite growl as he's once again awash with a sense of helplessness as a result of their predicament, but it's a near thing. Deciding he needs to get off this topic, he kicks out lightly at Teddy.

"What're you doing here anyway?" He asks when the younger man's eyes narrow. "You better not have come around to gawk at the show," he adds ominously. The main reason this floor is so empty right now is because Faraday's made it quite clear that anyone who wants to stare at the spectacle is going to find themselves on the wrong end of a gun barrel. "He ain't some play for you to watch."

Teddy almost looks hurt by the hinted accusation. "Of course not," he says. "You know me better than that. Emma asked me to meet her here to help with planning. I'm a bit surprised she's not down already."

Given that it's past lunchtime, Faraday has to admit he is as well. He'd expected Emma and Horne to be done questioning the other altered boys long before this. "Maybe you should go up and find her," he suggests.

Nodding amicably, Teddy takes that for the order it was meant to be, and pushes away from the table. "I'll go round 'em up and bring everyone back down here, shall I?" He asks.

Faraday nods. "You do that. We'll wait."

Teddy returns with Emma, Jack, and Red in short order. Billy's nowhere to be found, but Jack's quick to inform him that's because the man's minding Sam and Goodnight, who've been left upstairs to stay out of the way while plans are being discussed.

"They're ten," Faraday says when he hears this news. "They can look after themselves at that age."

"They're scared," Jack says in a voice that allows no argument. "Maybe not to the same extent as poor Alejo here, but they're young boys in a strange place without a single familiar face around. They might not admit it, but they'll appreciate the sense of security Billy can provide. Goody's taken to him almost as much as this one's taken to you," he finishes with a nod at Vasquez.

"Might be that's a holdover from their adult lives," Emma suggests, but refuses to elaborate further when Faraday gives her his most shrewd look.

"Perhaps," Jack agrees, although the way he does it indicates he's got no interest in pressing that line of inquiry. "Mainly though, that just leads me to my reasoning for why Billy and Faraday are staying here with the boys."

"Wait, what?" Momentarily preoccupied with adjusting Vasquez's grip on some of his cards before he can bend them all out of shape, Faraday looks up sharply, certain he must have heard wrong. "Say that again?"

Emma and Jack share a look while Teddy winces, and Red becomes very interested in the ceiling above their heads. All in all, the lot of them look like a bunch of guilty sons of bitches, to which Faraday says as much.

"Joshua!" Emma scolds, jerking her chin pointedly towards Vasquez. "While I recognize he's going to learn all manner of inappropriate words by the time he's grown, I don't see any need in starting him this early."

Faraday refuses to feel bad given the news he's just heard. Ignoring Emma's protests completely, he glares over at Jack. "What do you mean I'm staying here? If you lot have decided hunting that witch, or whatever she is, is the best way to deal with this then I'm coming too."

"You can't," Red says before anyone else gets the chance. "You're the only one of us Alejo likes, who he feels safe with. It's not fair to take that from him."

"Teddy and Ms. Cullen have volunteered to come with us to pad our ranks." Jack says before Faraday can think of a counter argument to that. "Red and I will do the tracking like usual, and we'll do our best to take her by surprise. Now that we know what she can do, we'll be going in with better intel."

"As well as a description," Emma adds. "It took some time to get it out of them, but Goodnight and Sam both remember a woman being present when they woke up together. They were a little fuzzy on the details, but not so much as to make the information useless."

"Good for them," Faraday grunts. "Now let's go back to the part where you expect me to spend however long you're gone acting as a glorified babysitter. I don't know anything about kids."

"Maybe," Emma admits, "but you know Vasquez," and here she smiles down at the child who cocks his head at her and stares back. "Looking at what we're facing right now, I'd say that's worth more than you think."

A dozen different excuses well up in Faraday's mind, but each and every one of them dies unspoken on his lips in light of the dawning realization that she's right. Never mind that they'd be able to find a perfectly competent adult - let alone more so - to look after Vasquez in his absence, he'd never manage to live with himself if he abandoned the kid now.

"Fuck," he says, quickly followed by "Alejo, don't repeat that," when he faces four different scowls after the word leaves his mouth. "I guess I'm staying here."

Vasquez offers him the King of Diamonds.

*****

The rest of the day gets taken up with preparing for the inevitable hunt, as well as obtaining more necessities for the three children who've got nothing but the clothes on their backs. By the time evening rolls around again, Faraday's almost forgotten about one key detail they've yet to deal with.

"Am I keeping him in the boarding house or not?" He asks after a glance out the window reveals the sun is well on its way towards setting.

Billy's recently vacated the premises with Sam and Goodnight in tow, having stated his intention to take them back to the little house he and Goodnight had commandeered as their own following the fight for Rose Creek. Faraday, however, has no such place to lay claim to, and Laura Mae's giving him the stink eye from where she's manning the front counter.

"Not," Emma informs him, setting the glass she's just drained down on the table with a heavy thump. "My place will be empty while I'm gone. You'll be staying there."

Faraday stares at her, half convinced she's joking. She stares back.

"I'm the only one with space for two people," she says, speaking over him before he's got his mouth all the way open. "Or at least the only one with that kind of space who can also give you privacy. Unless you wanted to bunk with some of the other townspeople, of course."

Faraday cannot think of a single thing he'd like less. Vasquez is a well enough behaved child that he figures he'll be able to keep him alive on his own, but that doesn't mean he wants witnesses to his bumbling efforts. Closing his mouth with a snap, he shrugs.

"I didn't think so," Emma says knowingly. "You should head on up and pack your things so we can get going. I'll watch Vasquez while you're gone."

No doubt intrigued by the sound of his name, Vasquez looks up from where he's studiously licking the remains of his supper from his utensils. Say what you will about the trauma he's faced in the last forty eight hours, it hasn't hurt his appetite in the slightest.

"Estás hablando de mí?" He asks curiously.

Emma and Faraday share a helpless look over the top of his head, and finally Faraday leans down to pat his shoulder. "S'all good, little man," he assures before turning back to Emma as a thought occurs to him.

"If he and I are staying at your place starting tonight, where are you going to be?" The tracking party isn't heading out until first thing tomorrow, and Faraday can't imagine Emma's going to want to share a room with him while Vasquez bunks down in the spare.

Emma, however, seems unconcerned. "I'll stay in town for the night. It's not going to hurt me, and Vasquez deserves to be allowed to settle in as soon as possible. Now go get your things."

Seeing no other option, Faraday goes.

*****

Vasquez seems to like Emma's house. Unlike the rooms they normally board in, where he'd mainly looked intimidated, he glances around the interior as he's ushered inside with something akin to intrigue, his eyes roaming around the nicely decorated rooms.

"What do you think, little man?" Faraday asks as he shuffles along behind him. "Bueno?"

Half turning around and craning his neck to look up, Vasquez catches Faraday's eye, and nods once. "Bueno," he says simply, and Faraday doesn't quite sag with relief, but it's close.

"You hear that?" He asks Emma, who's followed them into the house, carrying Vasquez's meagre bag of possessions over her shoulder. "Sounds like he likes it here."

"Or at least likes it better than he did the noisy boarding house," she agrees. "Let's show him his room and see what he thinks about that."

Figuring that's as good a plan as any, Faraday steps aside to let her pass. There are two closed doors off the main kitchen/living area, but as he doesn't know which one is the room she wants Vasquez in, he needs her to show him.

Choosing the door on the far right, Emma turns the handle, and shoves the whole thing back. "It might be a bit musty," she says apologetically once it's open. "I don't have reason to come in here much."

Poking his head into the room, Faraday takes a quick peek and snorts. What Emma calls not much, he calls downright cosy. There's a jug and a washbasin with a tiny overhanging mirror all corralled in one corner and the bed, which is big enough it's going to dwarf poor Vasquez when he's in it, is covered in a brightly colour quilt that looks soft to the touch, while the curtains framing the window are faded but in good repair. All in all it looks like a fine room to him.

"I mean," he says slowly, "there ain't much for him to do in here, but that was always going to be - shit! Vas - Alejo, no! Don't touch those, they ain't yours." This last bit is barked out when he notices Vasquez has climbed up on the bed and gone for the one thing of interest in the room.

Over the bed rests a shelf, one that on the whole isn't much to look at. Lined up atop it, however, is a row of carved wooden figurines, each one representing a different animal. Faraday doesn't know where they came from, but he does know he doesn't want Vasquez destroying any of them, including the miniature horse he has clutched in one hand.

"Give it here," Faraday says, striding forward to pry it out of tiny, grasping fingers. The thing looks delicate, and he doesn't want Vasquez's first act as a guest in this house to be one of destruction. "Come on, hand it over."

"Faraday, it's alright." Putting herself between Faraday and Vasquez, Emma twists around with an encouraging smile. "It's okay, Alejo, you can play with them. They're just sitting in here gathering dust anyhow."

"He might ruin 'em," Faraday warns, eying the line of animals warily. The horse isn't even the most delicate looking of the bunch, and he can just imagine them all tumbling down off the shelf if Vasquez isn't careful.

Emma, though, doesn't seem to mind. "Let him," she says breezily. "I've had them tucked away out of sight since Matthew died, but there's no reason they shouldn't get some use if there's one to be found."

Faraday doesn't know if that means Matthew had made the things or what, but he's more certain than ever that he doesn't want Vasquez ruining them. "You just be careful," he says, shaking an admonishing finger in the boy's face, "otherwise we might get kicked out."

In answer, Vasquez holds up the horse and grins.

"God, he's precious," Emma sighs, a look Faraday's almost afraid to describe as maternal creasing her features. "I can't believe he's going to grow up to be such a terror."

"Hey," Faraday protests, offended on Vasquez's behalf. "He's going to grow up just fine, thanks. I don't care how cute he is now," he adds sullenly, "I'll take the regular version any day."

Emma surprises him by laying a comforting hand on his arm. "I know, Faraday," she says kindly, and while he doesn't want to read too much into her expression, he suspects she can see through him far more easily than he's comfortable with. "We're going to fix this."

"We better," he grumbles.

"I said we will," she says giving him one last pat before shifting away. "Now, let's finish getting you both settled, and then there's one more thing to be done before I leave."

"And what's that?" Faraday asks, curious.

Emma snorts and gestures to where Vasquez is now playing with a handful of the carvings, seemingly oblivious to the discussion going on above his head. "He needs a bath."

*****

Faraday refuses to involve himself in the ensuing mess. While Vasquez may not understand the meaning of the word bath, he sure as shit knows what's happening when Emma drags the tub inside, and he wants no part in it.

"No banera," he says stoutly when Emma begins filling up the bath with pails heated of water. Backing up until he bumps into Faraday's shins and has nowhere else to go, he turns wide, pleading eyes upwards in a clear bid for assistance. "No banera!"

"Yes, banera." Finished filling the tub, Emma strides forward to grab Vasquez by the shirt, steadily dragging him towards the waiting bath when she's got him. "You're filthy, and I'm not putting money on Faraday fixing that while the rest of us are away. In you go."

"Joshuaaaa," his arms outstretched, Vasquez reaches for Faraday, still looking for help as he's hoisted into Emma's arms so she can begin getting him ready.

Feeling honestly guilty, Faraday shakes his head. "Sorry, little man, but I'm not dumb enough to go against Emma in this one. If she says you're getting a bath, you're getting a bath. However, I I want nothing to do with this."

Declaration made, Faraday grabs his own bag from where it's been left out of the way while Vasquez was shown the house, and heads for the main room. He's not sure how he feels about sleeping in the bed Emma had once shared with her late husband, but he knows he'd rather contemplate that than face Vasquez's betrayed stare.

From the noise emanating out of the main room while Faraday unpacks, it sounds like someone's being murdered. Splashes and bangs ring out repeatedly with Vasquez's increasingly vehement shrieks of denial carrying over Emma's quieter but no less insistent declarations that he's getting clean whether he likes it or not. Finally, there's one last almighty gush of water, and Emma saying they're done.

Still unwilling to go out and face the music, Faraday waits for Emma to sound the all clear. That doesn't happen, however, and instead he eventually hears the barely noticeable sound of little feet coming to a stop outside his door, which is slowly fumbled open.

"Yes?" He says, turning around with a grin that twists his face without his permission. Vasquez is standing there, back in his oversized nightshirt and with damp curls sticking up all over his head.

Getting the sense that his tiny friend isn't moving any closer without permission, Faraday crooks a finger at him. "Come on then. Let's see if you've survived what she's done to you."

Permission to enter granted, Vasquez releases his grip on the doorknob to shuffle forward into the room. His movement is once again hampered by the too long hem of the nightshirt, but that doesn't stop him from coming up to Faraday with a determined look on his face.

"Levantame!" He orders, holding his arms up to make it clear what he wants, and bouncing on his toes when Faraday doesn't move fast enough for his liking.

"You are the most impatient little shit, I swear." Thinking that all this leaning down to pick Vasquez up is going to be murder on his back if he stays a child for much longer, Faraday nevertheless gathers his wayward charge up as ordered.

"Well, you do smell better," Faraday remarks, and Vasquez burrows into his chest in answer, refusing to look over when a huffing sound signals Emma's arrival in the room.

"So," Faraday says slowly. "How'd everything go?"

Emma makes an exasperated noise, and rubs at her forehead with the back of one hand. She has damp patches all over her clothing, and her hair is completely out of place, making Faraday think Vasquez had to have given it at least one solid yank while suffering through his bath. "He was an absolute nightmare the whole time, and if it weren't for the fact that he's clearly terrified by everything that's happened, I'd give his backside a wallop that would have him seeing stars."

Alarmed, Faraday curls his arms more tightly around Vasquez's slender form, taking a few steps back as a precautionary measure. "He can't help acting out," he insists, patting Vasquez protectively. "He's scared."

"I know that, Faraday. That's why I said would, not 'am going to'." Emma blows a tired breath out through her nose, and makes what Faraday suspects is a futile attempt to tug her hair back into something resembling normalcy. "He was hardly on his best behaviour, but I understand why. Are you sure you're going to be alright here alone with him?"

"No," Faraday says honestly. He'd meant to try and bluff her, but in light of the way Vasquez is clinging to him, the truth had slipped out without his permission. "Though it ain't like I have much of a choice, is it?"

Emma sighs. "He likes you Faraday. Whatever the reason, that's more than the rest of us can say at the moment."

She sounds so defeated, Faraday can't help but feel sorry for her.

"He's just too little to know what's best for him, Emma," he says as kindly as he knows how. "He doesn't understand that everyone's trying to help. Plus, he barely speaks any English, so he doesn't really understand much period."

"Come on," he adds when her face remains sad. "He won't say no to a snack before bed, and if you feed it to him that might get him back on your side."

She flashes him a wry grin. "My mama always did say the quickest way to a man's heart was through his stomach. I guess that might be true for all ages."

Nodding in agreement, Faraday motions for her to exit the room, and proceeds to follow her out.

*****

The searchers leave town the next morning to start their mission, and Faraday instantly feels like a fish out of water. He watches them ride out with Vasquez perched on his shoulders seemingly just because he can, and sighs. Next to him, Billy echoes the sentiment.

"Horne thinks we should put Sam and Goody in school," he says apropos of nothing.

Faraday chokes, and turns to look at him as much as Vasquez's grip on his neck will allow. "What," he says flatly, thinking he must have heard wrong. "Why's he think that's a good idea?"

Billy shrugs. "Largely because it'll give them something to do, and me a break every now and then. Those two are exhausting."

Wondering if Billy's somehow missed his undersized passenger, Faraday considers this. "I guess it couldn't hurt," he says slowly, "but what about V - Alejo?"

At the sound of his name, Vasquez makes an inquiring noise, but otherwise doesn't move. He seems somewhat taken with the way Faraday's height gives him a superior vantage point, and is amusing himself by looking all around as they start walking back through town.

"He's too young," Billy says in reply. "Even if he'd be able to understand the lessons, he'd just get lost in the shuffle at the schoolhouse. Possibly literally."

Presented with a sudden vision of Vasquez get knocked over and trampled by a crowd of rowdy school children, Faraday had to admit Billy has a point. Pity that's likely to mean no breaks in child minding for him anytime soon.

Speaking of. "Where are your two terrors, anyway?" He asks, belatedly noting that neither Sam nor Goodnight had joined them to see their friends off. "Shouldn't they be around here somewhere?"

"They are," Billy informs him. "Sam wanted to go see his horse at the stables, and Goody decided to join. Since they weren't fighting for once, I told them it was fine."

"Right," Faraday says dubiously. "Hopefully no one gets murdered."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to leave them alone for long," Billy promises. "The amount of trouble they'd get up to wouldn't be worth it. I've always suspected Goody was probably a disaster of a child, and now I've got Sam in the mix as well."

"Y'could always pawn one or both of 'em off on somebody else," Faraday suggests. "I imagine there's no end to folks who'd take them off your hands."

Billy snorts. "One, I'm not so sure that's true, and two, I don't think I could bring myself to do it. If for no other reason than Goody'd never let me hear the end of it once he was back to normal."

Since he can't rightly find fault with that statement, Faraday doesn't try. "Well," he says instead, "I'm heading over to the Imperial to see about passing the time. You're welcome to join me if you like."

"You're going to take a toddler to a saloon?" Billy asks. He sounds more curious than judgemental, but there's a look in his eye that says he's questioning Faraday's thought process. "You better hope none of the mothers in town catch wind of that."

"Please," Faraday scoffs. "Most of 'em would expect nothing less from me. And anyway, I'm apparently who he wants to be around right now, so they can just sit back and let me handle things."

Billy makes a show of raising his head to scrutinize Vasquez where he's still seated atop Faraday's shoulders, bare feet - the battle over shoes had been lost from the get go and Faraday didn't relish starting it up again - strumming idly against Faraday's chest. "I suppose so long as you keep him alive and relatively unscathed it's fine."

"Thanks," Faraday grouses. "So happy to hear I have your blessing."

Billy raises his hands in a show of indifference, startling Faraday when he makes to peel off from their little group, heading in a direction other than that of the saloon. "I should check on Sam and Goody," he says by way of explanation, leaving Faraday to watch as he turns towards the stables.

"Well then," Faraday says, a little thrown by Billy's sudden departure. "Guess it's just you and me, Alejo." He jostles one of Vasquez's legs to get the boy's attention. "Feel like seeing the inside of the Imperial?"

Vasquez lets out a steady stream of words that are nothing but babble to Faraday. On the other hand, none of what he says sounds like a protest, so Faraday decides to keep to his original plan, never mind what the matrons of Rose Creek might think.

Since it's only a little past mid-morning the saloon is hardly crowded yet. A few of the old timers are sequestered together near the back of the room, and a teen he vaguely recognizes as being the schoolteacher's boy is leaning over the counter talking to the fellow behind it. At first Faraday thinks the kid must be trying to finagle a drink for himself of the alcoholic variety, but a little eavesdropping reveals he's actually here on an errand for his father.

Shaking his head at the kind of opportunity he'd never have let pass by when he was that age, Faraday reaches up to disentangle Vasquez from around his neck and set him down in the closest available chair.

"Right," he says then, suddenly unsure of what to do next. Maybe this wasn't the best place to come after all. Point blank, it's not like there's much hereabouts to entertain a child Vasquez's age. "Now what?"

In answer Vasquez gives him a flat look and kicks his feet in the air. "Joshua, aburrido."

Faraday sighs at this reminder of arguably the biggest problem they have on their hands. "Sorry, little man. No hablo Español."

That is apparently the wrong thing to say. Vasquez's eyes narrow, his expression shifting to one of displeasure. "Joshua, nooo."

"What?" Faraday asks, wondering what in hell's name that is supposed to mean. "What do you mean no?"

Vasquez responds with a weary sigh that seems too big to come from someone so small. He takes a moment to glance around the room before finally bringing his gaze back to Faraday. "Estoy sediento."

Faraday groans inwardly. "Sorry, Alejo. I'm still not following you."

"Estoy sediento," Vasquez says again, more forcefully this time.

Scrubbing at his face, Faraday takes a few moments to gather his thoughts. "Okay," he says aloud. "There must be a way for you to tell me what you want. We've been managing so far."

"Joshua," Vasquez says now, and damnit if his lower lip isn't starting to wobble. "Estoy. Sediento."

Faraday has a sudden urge to start yanking at his own hair. "Little man, I don't know what that means, and you just repeating yourself isn't going to help. Oh don't start that," he groans as Vasquez's face crumples and he takes several shuddering breaths that Faraday doubts bode well for his future peace of mind.

"Mr. Faraday, he's saying he's thirsty."

"Hmm?" His attention still mostly focused on Vasquez's increasing upset, Faraday turns distractedly to find the schoolteacher's son - Anthony - watching him with something vaguely akin to consternation. "What was that?"

Looking mildly nervous, Anthony squares his shoulders and nods at Vasquez. "The words he's saying? Estoy sediento? They mean 'I am thirsty'. I think he's asking for a drink."

Faraday stares at him for several long moments, and then reaches over to snag a water jug and tin cup off the nearest table. He holds both up so Vasquez can see. "Is this what you want?" He demands, hoping the answer is yes. "Vas, you want some water?"

No doubt understanding the gesture more than the words, Vasquez nods through his whimpers, grasping for the cup with desperate hands.

"Thank Christ," Faraday breathes, feeling a bit like crying himself. Pouring a healthy dose of water into the mug, he hands it over, not really caring if Vasquez spills it everywhere so long as it calms him down. "Here, all yours."

As Vasquez takes the cup and begins gulping down the water, Faraday watches him for a second until he realizes that Anthony is trying to quietly slink away without anyone noticing.

"You," he says, pointing a finger at the boy, and making him freeze in place. "How in the hell did you know what he was saying?"

Anthony gives him a look like he's not sure he wants to answer. However, Faraday's a far more intimidating figure, and he's not backing down until he gets a response. He's a man running on little food and even less sleep, he'll play dirty if he has to.

Some or all of this must show on his face because Anthony sighs and slumps forward until he can take one of the chairs at their table. "I don't understand a lot," he says hesitatingly, "mainly just words I'm not supposed to know, but Mr. Vasquez has been teaching me a bit whenever he's around. I think he likes having someone to use the language with."

He trails off, looking uncomfortable, probably because Faraday's eying him like he's found salvation. "How much is not a lot?" He demands. "What kind of stuff do you know?"

"Um, mostly really basic things," Anthony replies, his face shifting as he considers what he can offer. "I can say I'm thirsty, hungry, tired, hot, cold, uhh, that I need the outhouse. Oh, and that I'm hurt. I can count a bit, and I'm pretty good with colours. Yes, no. Please, thank you. Hello, goodbye. Other odds and ends. We were going to start with animals next, but then this happened."

"Jesus wept," Faraday replies. Anthony can describe his knowledge as basic all he wants, he's essentially just appointed himself the answer to Faraday's prayers. "Kid, do you realize that's exactly the kind of stuff I need most here? Pretty much all I've got are insults you can't use on a three year old, and the more I get it wrong the more upset he gets."

Not that he can blame Vasquez much, Faraday admits, watching as his miniaturized friend eyes him warily over the rim of his cup. Trapped in a strange place with people he doesn't recognize, none of whom speak the same language as him? The whole thing has got to be terrifying. At least Sam and Goodnight can say what they want and understand the answers they get in return.

Noting that Vasquez's cup is empty, Faraday holds up the water jug, sloshing its contents. "You want some more?"

"Más," Anthony supplies helpfully. "Um, quieres mas, I think."

"Sí!" Vasquez yelps, banging his cup against the table excitedly, looking at Anthony like he's the best thing he's ever seen. "Más, por favor."

"That means - " Anthony starts, but Faraday cuts him off.

"More, please. Yep, got it, thanks." Taking the cup from Vasquez, he fills it up and then hands it back. "All yours, Vas. Have at it."

Vasquez happily reclaims the cup, and sets about draining it only slightly more slowly than he had the first time. Given how worked up he'd been getting out of frustration, he'd likely made his initial thirst even worse.

Thinking not for the first time that Vasquez couldn't have been saddled with a more hapless caregiver, Faraday jabs a finger at Anthony. If he's going to keep doing this job, he needs to make use of whatever resources he can get. "Teach me what you know," he says firmly.

Anthony gulps. "Wouldn't it be easier to teach him English?"

"Trust me, we'll be doing what we can there too," Faraday says, "but right now he's scared and alone and you're the only one who might have a hope in hell of understanding what he's saying. Man up, kid. You just volunteered for this."

"Yes, sir," Anthony says meekly, "but I really don't know that much."

"I truly could not care less," Faraday informs him. "Any other protests you'd like to make?"

Anthony shakes his head. "No, sir, but I'm supposed to be running errands for my Pa today, so I can't do much today."

"Hmm," Faraday says, a new idea occurring to him. "Lets go find your old man, kid. He might be able to help too."

*****

"I'm sorry, you want me to do what?" Josiah stares first at his son, then at Faraday, and lastly at Vasquez where he's perched on Faraday's hip. "Say that again?"

Faraday sighs, and adjusts Vasquez's knee so it's digging less viciously into his kidneys. "I don't rightly see what's so hard to grasp. I want you to help me get Vas to relearn English. He doesn't understand anything anybody says to him, or vice verse."

"Which I dare say is traumatic for him," Josiah agrees, "but I don't see how you expect me to help. I don't speak a lick of Spanish, I'm afraid."

"Yeah, pretty much nobody around here does," Faraday drawls. "Hence why the plan is to teach him English."

Josiah flaps a dismissive hand, clearly getting frustrated. "Regardless, I'm not that sort of teacher. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"I don't care where you start," Faraday says flatly, "just so long as you start period. We had a perfectly good morning derailed earlier because I couldn't figure out he was saying he was thirsty. I can't last however long this is going to take if I can't talk to him, and neither will he."

Josiah pinches the bridge of his nose, looking tired. "I don't know if I'm equipped to deal with this right now. Come inside all of you, and maybe you can explain just what it is you want me to do."

Fighting the urge to sigh, Faraday does as requested and tromps into the house, setting Vasquez down in a chair as soon as he's able, and receiving a glare he doesn't particularly feel is warranted in response.

"Enough with the looks, Alejo," he says tiredly, groaning when Vasquez's scowl merely deepens. He shrugs tiredly in their host's direction. "Sorry, he's been getting crankier and crankier the whole way over here. No idea what's gotten into him."

Josiah cocks his head to the side. "Has he had a nap yet today? Because he seems the kind of irritable that suggests he needs one."

Faraday gives him a blank look. "Nap? I don't think he's napped since the change happened. He just goes to bed at the regular hour and gets up again in the morning."

Josiah's expression turns pained. "That's probably half your problem," he explains slowly. "Likely a big part of why he's fussing is that he's overtired."

"Huh," Faraday says. He glances down at Vasquez who gives him another cranky look. "How do I make him stop being that?"

"You put him in a bed," Josiah says dryly. "Usually Mother Nature does the rest. Or if not her, the sandman."

Faraday snorts. "I'm starting to see why you and Goodnight get on so well," he informs the schoolteacher. "You and adult Goodnight that is."

"Mr. Robicheaux is more widely read than most other folks around," Josiah agrees. "Although Mr. Chisolm isn't too bad either. I imagine I'll have less company than usual while they're suffering the effects of ... whatever this is."

"Mhm," Faraday replies, "which means you should find something to distract yourself with so you don't get lonely. Something like helping a precious little Mexican fella learn English."

Josiah rolls his eyes in a manner most unbefitting a man of his station in a town like Rose Creek. "Just because you keep telling me I know how to do something doesn't mean I do, Mr. Faraday. I'm afraid that's not how it works."

"Oh, come on," Faraday pleads. "Are you honestly going to tell me you won't help him feel more comfortable around us all? Chances are good the main reason he's as scared as he is is because he doesn't understand when we tell him he's safe."

Now it's Josiah's turn to snort. Nodding at Vasquez, he makes a face like he thinks Faraday is having him on. "This child knows full well you're not going to hurt him, language barrier or no language barrier."

"However," he says, raising a hand while Faraday's still gearing up for his next rejoinder, "I see your point. There's got to be something we can do about this, so I'll make you a deal."

He pauses then, waiting until Faraday quirks an eyebrow at him and nods for him to continue. "Good, thank you. Now, I will try and come up with a lesson plan that will help him learn English on two conditions. One) you help me do it, right here, right now, and two) you put him down for a nap in one of the bedrooms."

Faraday grins, willing to take the win even if it comes with conditions. "Just show me where you want him."

*****

On the whole, Faraday decides a couple of days later, things are not as bad as they could be. Vasquez is surprisingly easy to manage once he settles into a routine, and the entire town it seems is eager to pitch in and help. Though it's notable that Faraday remains his favourite.

"That's because he can tell he's got you wrapped around his finger," Leni says loftily when he voices that thought aloud one night. Josiah had suggested Faraday bring Vasquez by for supper, and she'd invited herself along upon seeing them walking over. "Anyone else and he's more inclined to be difficult."

Since she's currently struggling to get Vasquez to hold still so she can wipe the remnants of supper off his face with a damp cloth, Faraday supposes she knows what's she's talking about. He's also, notably, learned in the past few days that Leni Frankel is not a woman to be trifled with, so he won't be saying anything regardless.

Vasquez, on the other hand, turns out to have no such qualms where backtalk is concerned. Pulling as far back out of reach as he can, he balls his fists up and bangs them both on the table. "Stop!"

Leni freezes with the cloth still held in midair, her face creased in obvious surprise. "Did you hear what he said?"

"I think the whole town heard what he said," Josiah remarks dryly where he's clearing the supper plates away. "Why don't you do the poor boy a favour and listen to him? He's clean enough."

"He's got sauce on his nose," Leni replies dubiously, and when Vasquez turns his face away from her, Faraday can see that she's right. "It's the last bit I haven't managed to get rid of."

"Here." Licking at the pad of his thumb, Faraday reaches over and scrubs at the remaining bit of food, relieved when Vasquez submits to the indignity without putting up a further fuss. "There. All fixed."

"That's hardly the cleanliest solution," Leni drawls, but she makes no further attempts to invade Vasquez's personal space, so Faraday counts it as a win.

"And yet it gets the job done," Faraday states. "Besides, he made his position known on the whole affair."

"That he did," Leni admits. "I have to say, I was a little surprised to hear him use the English word. Those language lessons of Josiah's must be going well."

"Yes and no." Rematerializing as if summoned by his name, Josiah swoops in to help Vasquez down out of his chair. Sending him on his way with a gentle nudge, he turns back to Leni with a shrug. "We laid out some key things we felt he'd absolutely need to learn, and started from there. Stop was one Joshua suggested."

"So he can let us know if someone's being too rough with him or making him uncomfortable,". Faraday explains when the widow looks over at him with one eyebrow raised. "I figured it'd help with the whole trusting us thing."

"Plus you need to have something to shout when he inevitably gets into things he shouldn't," Leni says slyly.

"Mmm," Faraday hums noncommittally as he watches Vasquez cross to the corner of the room where Josiah's taken to keeping Anthony's old toys for him to play with. There's still not much in the grand scheme of things, but so far the remains of Anthony's childhood have been enough to keep Vasquez entertained during evenings spent in the schoolteacher's home.

"Looks like he's going for the toy soldiers again," Josiah remarks, his own eyes following Vasquez's progress as he drops into the seat next to Faraday. "Those seem to be his favourites. Anthony's too as it happens."

"That they do," Faraday agrees. "Speaking of, where's your kid taken off to?" Anthony had joined them for supper, but Faraday hasn't seen hide nor hair of him since he'd finished eating.

"Outside doing his chores if he knows what's good for him," Josiah replies. "Consider yourself lucky this one's too young for you to have to deal with that as well."

"Wouldn't make him do any even if I could," Faraday replies. "I reckon he's got enough on his plate."

Josiah makes a touché kind of gesture, and takes a sip of the tea he's got resting in front of him. The man drinks the stuff like Faraday's seen other man drink whiskey, albeit without the repeated hangovers as a repercussion.

"Speaking of my erstwhile offspring," Josiah says now, "He mentioned he was going to be paying you a visit sometime tomorrow. Do you know anything about that?"

"I don't," Faraday replies, "but he's welcome to do as he pleases. Vas likes it when he comes around. Reckon it's because he's still better at Spanish than the rest of us."

"Mmm, well, just so long as he's not wearing out his welcome," Josiah says, and Faraday barks out a laugh.

"I figure we'll wear out our welcome long before your boy wears out his," he says, bringing his cup to his lips for a drink. "Kid can do as he pleases where visits are concerned."

Josiah salutes him with his own cup. "I'll be sure to tell him you said so."

*****

As it happens, Anthony doesn't find them out at the farmhouse the next day. Instead, Faraday and Vasquez find him in town after they've wandered over looking for something to do with their time.

They're sitting out on the front steps of the saloon with Faraday nursing a drink - water only, what has he become - and Vasquez amusing himself over by the porch railings, doing who knows what.

That's how Anthony finds them at some point, a faint grin twisting his mouth as he traipses up the steps and comes to a stop next to Faraday. "And how're you folks making out?" He asks cheekily.

Faraday scowls at him tiredly. Vasquez had forced him out of bed at an ungodly hour wanting breakfast, and he's currently ill equipped to deal with mouthy teenagers who want to give him lip.

"Whatever you're thinking, keep it to yourself," he says tiredly. "I have only so much patience within me, and most of it I have to save for him."

Anthony holds up his hands in a placating gesture, but Faraday doesn't miss the fact that he's still grinning. "You seem a little out of sorts, Josh," he says. "Anything I can do to help?"

Faraday regrets saying nice things about the kid just last night, and he opens his mouth to say so when he's abruptly cut off.

"Perro!" Vasquez shrieks out of the blue, jumping up and down furiously on the spot as he waves at something in the distance.

"Jesus Christ," Faraday breathes, almost dropping his glass in surprise while Vasquez keeps squealing over whatever it is that's grabbed his attention. Setting the glass down on the railing, he looks over at Anthony. "That mean anything to you?"

Anthony shrugs. "Kinda think it might mean dog, but that's just a guess." Pointing over the porch ledge, he zeroes his finger on Vasquez's line of sight. "Look."

Following the motion, Faraday catches sight of a man he thinks his one of the farmers who lives outside of town. He's got a cart he's unloading parked in front of the general store, and a beast of a dog sitting beside it.

Faraday takes one look at the dog's scarred face, not to mention the size of its teeth, and stoops down to hook his fingers around the back of Vasquez's shirt without thinking twice.

Twisting around, Vasquez stares up at him with excited eyes, still pointing through the railings. "Perro!" He says again gleefully, repeating the word over and over like that might somehow convince Faraday to let him go say hello.

"Yeah, yeah, perro. We heard you the first hundred times." Leaning down, he scoops Vasquez up in his arms and hoists him into the air just in case he tries to make a run for it. "Come on. That fella looks like he'd be down to eat you, and I don't want to have to explain something like that to Horne."

"Aw, perro," Vasquez says sadly, his disappointment plain as Faraday steps down off the stairs and begins marching pointedly away from the dog and his owner. He waves to them both over Faraday's shoulder.

"No perro for you," Faraday says firmly, "or at least not that one. Maybe we can find one of a smaller scale if you're gonna be so insistent."

"You should pick up that one Mr. Olsen has set aside for him," Anthony says, falling into step beside them. "I doubt he's gotten rid of it just because all this has happened."

Confused, Faraday squints down at him. "The heck are you talking about?" Olsen he knows is the town ferrier, having had him look at Jack a time or two, but as far as he's aware the man only deals with horses, no other animals.

"His dog had a litter a while back," Anthony explains when Faraday voices this thought aloud. "He's been selling the pups off, and Mr. Vasquez did some carpentry work for him in exchange for one once they were ready to leave their Ma."

That's news to Faraday, who says as much while at the same time trying to get Vasquez to loosen the stranglehold he's suddenly got on his neck. "What the heck would he even do with the thing when we had a job on the go?" He asks as he pries one skinny arm away. "C'mon, Vas. Lemme breathe, please."

Clearly uninterested in helping, Anthony makes no move to wrangle Vasquez down. "He was gonna pay me to mind it," he says instead. "Just until it got big enough to travel with him. Hope Mr. Olsen hasn't decided to hand it off to someone else since this has been going on."

"Mhm," Faraday says half-heartedly, still wrestling with Vasquez as he walks. He's not entirely convinced Anthony isn't pulling his leg, but the boy's a fairly honest sort, and Vasquez probably won't take it well if he's lost out on a deal once he's back to normal.

His mind made up, Faraday peels Vasquez all the way off of him, ignoring his disgruntled protests, and shoves him gently towards Anthony. "Think I'd better talk to Olsen while the idea occurs to me. You mind watching him for a bit?"

"Um." Anthony replies, his eyes going wide as Faraday forces Vasquez's tiny hand into his larger one. "I ain't never had him on my own before!"

Judging by the look on his face, Vasquez is equally unsure about the whole endeavour, but Faraday doesn't want to haul him all the way out to Olsen's. It's not a place to have a kid wandering around, especially not if he's going to be dragging a pup back with him.

"Just take him back to your place," Faraday instructs. "Your Pa can help you mind him, and I'll know he's in good hands while I'm gone. It's not like you live that far."

"I guess," Anthony says dubiously. He tightens his grip on Vasquez's hand, steering him gently in the direction of the home he and his father reside in. "What do you say, Alejo? You want to come with me?"

Vasquez looks back and forth between Anthony and Faraday, obviously not convinced. He mumbles something in Spanish, giving Faraday the look he always does when he thinks he's being abandoned.

"Nah, none of that," Faraday declares. He ruffles Vasquez's hair, but motions for him to keep moving. "You go with Anthony for now. I'll get you in a bit."

Vasquez still looks uncertain, but he toddles off regardless, though Faraday catches him looking over his shoulder a few times as he goes.

Telling himself Vasquez is in good hands and will be just fine, Faraday starts walking towards the street he knows houses Olsen's shop. If he recalls correctly, the man and his family live nearby, so there's a solid chance he'll be found at one or the other.

Case in point, Faraday finds Olsen standing inside his shop, sorting through pieces of metal that no doubt mean more to him than anyone else. He looks up as Faraday comes through the open door, his brow creasing as he sees who it is.

"Don't tell me that horse of yours needs my services again," he drawls. His posture is that of someone aiming to look nonchalant, but there's a note of concern in his voice, and Faraday dimly recalls Jack not being on his best behaviour the last time they'd been by.

Fighting the urge to grin, Faraday holds his hands up in a placating gesture. "I come alone, I promise," he says. "I was just talking to the schoolteacher's boy earlier, and he let slip you might have something for Vasquez."

"Oh," Olsen says, understanding now writ large on his face. "As a matter of fact, I do. You here to pick her up since he can't?"

"Something like that," Faraday agrees, not wanting to admit he'd only come now because he didn't want to risk the pup being given away with no one realizing it. "Are they ready to go then?"

"They are." Untying his apron and draping it over a hook near the doorway Faraday had just stepped through, he heads outside, gesturing for Faraday to follow him. "They've been ready to leave their mother for about a week or so, though more than half of 'em are still here. I was going to come see you if I didn't hear anything in a bit."

Leading Faraday along, Olsen walks away from his shop to begin crossing towards the house Faraday's going to assume is his.

He hears the pups before he sees them. Loud, shrill yipping echoes out from around back of the house, and Faraday can spot some kind of pen located under a nearby tree as he follows Olsen over.

The mother, Olsen's dog, is nowhere to be seen, but as Faraday glances down into the pen he counts no less than five tiny bodies wrestling in a solid pile across the ground. "Rambunctious little things, aren't they?"

"You have no idea," Olsen says. "My daughters have loved having them around, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad to be seeing the back of them. They are some lot of work, I don't mind telling you."

"No doubt," Faraday agreed. "Which one am I taking?"

"That would be this little lady right here." Reaching into the huddle, Olsen deftly pulls a chubby bundle of russet coloured fur free, seemingly able to ignore the way the pup howls in protest. "Looks just like her mama, she does," he adds as he hands her over.

Faraday instinctively wraps both hands around the squirming pup to keep her from falling, gazing down as she pants up at him, clearly unsure of what to think about this development.

Three of the pups still in the pen are obvious mutts, having patchy coats and no immediately discernible breed, one other and Vasquez's pick are obviously the product of at least one Irish Setter, right down to the shaggy red fur covering their bodies.

"I don't suppose he gave you any idea what he planned to call her?" Faraday asks, and Olsen shakes his head.

"Can't say that he did, sorry. You sure you want to take her now? I don't mind holding on to her given the circumstances."

"Nah," Faraday says easily, adjusting his hold so he can press the pup against his chest and maintain a more secure grip. "We've got no idea how long that might be, and it seems he loves dogs no matter what size he is. May as well take her now. I owe you anything for her?"

"Not a thing," Olsen replies, nodding at the house where a recent add on is made evident by the newer looking wood. "I'm not nearly as good with hammer and nails as I am with horses. His work more than covered any cost for her."

Trust Vasquez to take on a job that size and then accept only minimal payment. The man was a soft touch no matter how much he liked to pretend otherwise.

Nodding at Olsen, Faraday makes a quick goodbye, heading out with his burden in tow. The pup's still wriggling, which forces him to walk slower than he normally would lest he lose her, and by the time he reaches the place Anthony and his father call home, there's a slight chill in the air that suggests early evening is on its way.

He can hear faint voices as he approaches the front of the house, and it's not long after he knocks that Anthony's opening the door with a curious look on his face. "You got it," he says, catching sight of the tiny shape cradled in Faraday's arms.

"Well I sure as hell haven't taken up dog thieving in my spare time," Faraday replies, shouldering past the boy in the hopes that he'll finally be able to set the pup down. "Shift yourself, would you? I want to see what he thinks of her."

"Probably a lot," Anthony says as he shuts the door and follows Faraday into the interior of the house. "He's been babbling about perros since you left him with me. Only shut up for a bit when Pa fed him some supper."

"He ate? Good." Pleased he won't have to worry about that for the night, Faraday looks around and spots Vasquez ensconced in Josiah's lap, his eyes drooping heavily as the schoolteacher reads to him from a thick looking book.

"The hell are you reading to him for, Josiah?" Faraday asks, genuinely curious. "He doesn't speak hardly any English. No way is he gonna be able to follow whatever it is you've got there."

Josiah looks up and smiles at Faraday over Vasquez's dark curls. "He doesn't seem to mind," he says, pitching his voice low in deference to the half asleep child slumped against his chest. "Seems he likes being told stories whether he can understand them or not."

"On the other hand," he adds with a crooked smile, "I think what you've got there will trump what I'm holding." Shaking Vasquez lightly, he murmurs low in his ear. "Up you get, Alejo. Look what Joshua's brought you."

Vasquez blinks at the sound of Faraday's name, twisting around until he can get a good view of him. Then he spots the pup, and goes from slouched in a half doze to rocketing across the room in a single bound.

"Perrito!" He bellows, which Faraday is going to assume means puppy as opposed to dog. Bouncing up and down, he waves his hands at the now very interested pup. "Peudo ver? Quiero ver! Por favor! Please!"

"I see he's got that word down," Josiah says dryly, his eyes crinkling in light of Vasquez's antics.

"Only in the sense that he knows it can get him what he wants," Faraday replies, even as he's carefully lowering himself to his knees so Vasquez can get a better look. "Careful little muchacho, she's delicate."

Despite the language barrier, Vasquez seems to understand he has to be gentle because the hand he stretches out to pat the top of the pup's head sweeps in barely there arcs through her fur, not once applying too much pressure.

"That's good, bueno. Nice and easy with her." Keeping ahold of the pup, Faraday raises her up, so that she and Vasquez can look eye to eye, unable to stop himself from laughing when she wags her tail furiously, stretching her front paws out towards him. "You want to hold her?"

Vasquez gives him a blank look, but he catches up to the proceedings quickly enough when Faraday stretches out his arms in an obvious bid for him to take the pup. His eyes going huge, he reaches out to grab her, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she's not that much smaller than he is.

"Perrito," he chirps happily, laughing when he gets his face licked.

"Yeah, perrito," Faraday agrees. "Yours, apparently. Uh, tu perrito?" He shrugs as Vasquez's head jerks up in surprise. "Something like that anyway."

"Ella es mia?" Vasquez says, his voice hushed, and Faraday isn't sure, but he bets that's a request for the clarification that the dog is his. At least he hopes that's what it means because that's what he's going with.

"Yeah, all yours," he says. "What're you going to call her?"

Vasquez just stares at him, so Faraday turns to Anthony for help.

He gets a helpless shrug in return. "Uh, nombre means name. Try that." He snaps his fingers and points at the dog. "Hey, Alejo, nombre. What's her nombre?"

"Nombre?" Vasquez glances down at the puppy and buries his face in her fur. "Roja," he says happily, the words muffled by all the dog hair.

Anthony barks out a laugh that he immediately tries to cover up with a cough. "I'm not sure, but I think he just named her Red, or maybe Red Girl."

Faraday stares down at the wriggling fluffball in Vasquez's arms. "Well, it is fitting, I suppose," he admits. "Though I reckon our Red might have some complaints."

They stay a little longer, but eventually it starts getting late enough that even the excitement of Roja isn't enough to keep Vasquez going, and he starts noticeably sagging. Faraday spots this, and belatedly clues in to the fact that he's not sure how he's supposed to get them both back out to Emma's.

"I can take you," Josiah says when he notes this aloud. "No point in you trying to wrangle an exhausted child and a confused puppy alone in the dark. I'll have Anthony hitch up the wagon, and then we'll go."

"You don't have to," Faraday tells him, but Josiah brushes the protest away with a wave of his hand.

"It's no trouble," he insists, and since Anthony's already ducking out the door to go about his appointed task, Faraday figures fighting him on this is a lost cause.

Not long after he finds himself perched on the wagon seat next to Josiah, while Vasquez is nestled down in the bed of the cart with Roja snoozing beside him as they trundle along towards the farmhouse.

"He's fine," Josiah says a few minutes into the ride.

Faraday, who's twisted around to see if Vasquez is really asleep, startles. "I don't know what you're talking about," he says, rotating to look at Josiah. He could do without the smug look gracing the other man's features, and thanks the poor lighting for covering up his suddenly heated cheeks. "Anyway, you don't know that."

"Oh, of course," Josiah replies, making it clear with his tone that he doesn't believe Faraday for a moment. "Never mind that I've raised a boy on my own for the last sixteen years and am therefore something of an authority on what children look like when they're content."

"Yeah, well," Faraday trails off when he can't think of a better counter argument.

Josiah nudges him with a shoulder. "You're doing fine too, Joshua. The main reason he's doing as well as he is is because you're looking out for him."

Faraday shrugs, not really wanting to have this discussion. "Someone's got to," he remarks.

"Mhm," Josiah agrees. "It must be strange though, having to care for a friend this way."

"You have no idea," Faraday replies. "God as my witness, but I hope we can fix this. I don't really think I'm up for full on raising him. Fuck it, I know I'm not." There's no way he'd be able to do that, not with what he really wants from Vasquez.

"I'm sure it won't come to that," Josiah promises, and they lapse back into silence the rest of the way home.

Hoping to avoid waking Vasquez up if at all possible, Faraday slides him up out of the wagon and carries him towards the door, taking extra care to avoid stepping on Roja who's winding her way around his feet. He wrestles the door open with his elbow, sliding it closed behind him with his foot only once he's sure the pup's followed him in.

"Because we don't want you wandering around outside all by your lonesome," he tells her quietly as he carries Vasquez to bed. Depositing his tiny burden down among the blankets, he works Vasquez's shoes and socks off, figuring it won't hurt him to sleep in his clothes for one night.

Stooping down, he picks up Roja and settles her down next to Vasquez where she promptly curls up in a ball, huffing contentedly. Hoping that means she won't destroy any of Emma's things if left in here for the night, Faraday pads softly out of the room and heads for his own bed.

*****

"Faraday, are you - oh." Having walked into Emma's house without so much as a knock, Billy freezes in his tracks when he catches sight of the occupants. "You're busy, I see."

Unable to get up from his spot on the floor, Faraday waves an errant hand. "Afternoon, Rocks," he says lazily. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company, and where's your entourage?"

"With the preacher of all people," Billy replies as he comes further into the room. "He had a few chores around the church he was looking for help with. I don't know what he offered them in return, but they went for it. What are you doing?"

"That," Faraday says expansively, "is a loaded question." He gestures to where Vasquez is parked on his sternum, using him as some kind of makeshift fairground for the animal set that's normally in the spare bedroom. "He's got a game going on here, but I'll be damned if I know what the rules are."

Billy quirks an eyebrow at him. "And you're just going along with this?"

In answer, Faraday makes to shift upwards ever so slightly and is immediately smacked back down by Vasquez. "Joshua, no te muevas," he says sharply, glaring until Faraday assumes his previous position. "Bueno."

Probably more amused than he should be by Vasquez's tyrannical attitude, Faraday snickers. "He's been at it for about half an hour now," he informs Billy. "I'd shove him off, but it's not like he's hurting anything."

"Tell that to your back after an afternoon spent on the floor," Billy suggests. Pulling one of the chairs out from under the table, he drops into it with a shake of his head. "The longer you're down there, the more you're going to regret it."

His position makes a full shrug impossible, but Faraday does his best. "I'll deal with it when I deal with it. What do you want?"

"Well, I was looking for a little adult conversation while I'm free of the other two, but in hindsight I should have known better than to come searching for that here." Leaning back in his chair, Billy gives both Faraday and Vasquez a disbelieving look. "How did he tell you he wanted you to lie down?"

"There was a lot of pointing and miming," Faraday admits, "but we figured it out in the end."

"So you're just going to stay there until he's done with you?" Billy asks dubiously, falling silent as he watches Vasquez make the horse and dog figurines get into what looks like a fight.

Faraday, however, shakes his head and shifts to point at the clock resting on the wall behind Billy. "Once it hits two he's going down for a nap whether he likes it out not, yes, I'm talking about you, muchacho," he adds when Vasquez scowls at his use of the word.

"No nap," Vasquez says firmly. "No tired."

"Yes nap and yes tired," Faraday shoots back. "It's easy to tell when you start getting cranky."

"No cranky," Vasquez disagrees. His English is still nowhere near what it will be, but he's starting to get the odd word down, even if Faraday's not sure he always knows what he's saying.

As if on cue, the clock chooses now to strike two, and Faraday rises up despite Vasquez's vocal protests. "Yeah, yeah," he says while he removes various barnyard animals from his person. "You're not impressed, I got it. Pity for you, I don't care."

He meets Vasquez's annoyed glower with a steady gaze, and points towards the spare room. "Cama, now."

Vasquez huffs but thankfully doesn't fight him on this one, instead trailing Faraday into the room and climbing into bed next to an already snoozing Roja. The pup shifts minutely as Vasquez curls around her, but thankfully doesn't wake.

"What's cama mean?" Still seated at Emma's kitchen table, Billy asks this question when Faraday reemerges from the room.

"Exactly what you think it means," Faraday replies. "I'm getting better at this whole Spanish thing."

"Hmm," Billy replies, whatever that means. He watches silently as Faraday crosses the room and claims the second table seat for himself, and then nods at they toy animals still scattered about the floor. "Aren't you going to clean this up?"

"Nope," Faraday answers glibly. Reaching into his vest pocket he fishes out his trusty flask and begins unscrewing the lid. "I'm going to invest in a little me time and pretend that I didn't just have to put a famed Mexican outlaw down for an afternoon siesta because he cries when he's overtired."

"You've been doing that for ages now," Billy points out. "One would think you'd gotten used to it."

Before answering, Faraday takes a swig from his flask. "I fuckin' hate this," he says once the whiskey has burned it's way down his throat. "I try not to show it because it's not his fault, but fuck."

"I don't mind looking out for him," he continues on, not giving Billy a chance to cut in. "He's a funny little thing, and on the whole he's really not much trouble, it's just - "

"You prefer the real version," Billy finishes. "Do you think I don't? Hell, Faraday, why do you think I came here? You're the only person in town who has any clue how dealing with this shit feels. I miss Goody. My Goody."

Reasonably certain that's the most emotional he's ever heard Billy sound, Faraday silently offers him the flask.

Eying it warily for a moment, Billy eventually snorts and takes it. Knocking back a hearty gulp. "Thanks," he grunts, passing it back.

"Welcome," Faraday replies.

They pass the flask back and forth a couple of times with neither of them saying anything, but finally Faraday can't keep quiet any longer. Setting the flask down on the table, he shifts to look at Billy. "What're we going to do if this is permanent?"

"It won't be," Billy says instantly. "It can't be."

"You don't know that," Faraday retorts, but this just makes Billy adamantly shake his head.

"Yes, I do," he insists. "The reason being, I will personally hunt down the person responsible and cut out their liver if that's what it takes to get things back to normal. I am not settling to have this be the end result."

Faraday considers this. "I am both alarmed and comforted," he decides. "Good to know you're as terrifying as ever, Rocks."

Billy shrugs as if to say 'of course'. "Now, more important question, how long before Vasquez wakes up?"

Glancing at the clock, Faraday thinks this over. "At least an hour, maybe a little more. Why?"

"Grab your cards," Billy suggests in a way that makes it clear he means it as an order. "We have a brief window where we're child free, and I say we embrace it."

Unable to find fault in this, Faraday does as he's told.

*****

"Joshua."

"Mhm." Reclined in slumberland, Faraday does his best to ignore the insistent voice abruptly clambering for his attention.

"Joshua!"

Does his best that is, and fails. As much as Faraday might want to keep sleeping, Vasquez evidently has other ideas. Repeating Faraday's name in a constant litany, he tugs at the blankets for added measure, and Faraday's forced awake against his will.

"Alejo," he groans, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. It's pitch black in the room, meaning it's the middle of the night, and nowhere near time to be awake. Flopping back against his pillow, he sighs. "What is it, little man?"

In answer, Vasquez lifts a squirming Roja over the edge of the bed, depositing her on the mattress with difficulty. Then he starts struggling to drag himself up as well. "Joshua," he says, stuck half off and half on the bed, "ayuda!"

"Christ," Faraday says. Rolling over, he gets a hand on Vasquez, hauling him up the rest of the way. "Okay, okay, here we go. Up you get."

Successfully up, Vasquez scrambles over the bed until he can find a space for himself. He wriggles into a spot between Faraday and Roja, tucking himself up against Faraday's side, and burrowing in tightly.

Belatedly, Faraday realizes his tiny companion is shaking. Biting back another sigh, he wraps a hand around Vasquez, offering himself up as a barrier between the boy and whatever it is that has him frightened. "S'matter, muchacho?" He slurs tiredly. "Bad dream - er - pesadilla?" He corrects, remembering the word Anthony had taught him following a previous night of broken sleep.

"Si," Vasquez says wetly. "Stay here?" He asks in his stilted, broken English. "Please?"

"Yes," Faraday counters, rubbing a hand over Vasquez's back. "Of course."

"Gracias," Vasquez replies, and Faraday tucks the blankets firmly around him, knowing from experience that will help. "Roja también?"

"Yeah, Roja can stay too." The pup makes a snuffling noise at the sound of her name, but otherwise doesn't move. Faraday can only imagine she's exhausted as well given the hour. He pats absently at the now blanket draped lump that is Vasquez. "All good?"

"Mhmm," Vasquez mumbles. It sounds like he's already falling back to sleep, and Faraday hums softly to try and spur this along.

Vasquez never seems to have much trouble going back down again once he's settled. Faraday wishes he could say the same, but he can't. As tired as he is, he remains awake even as Vasquez's breathing evens out into that of someone who's solidly asleep.

"Brat," Faraday says fondly when Vasquez's faint snores start echoing out in the room. They'll get worse as he gets older, Faraday knows from nights spent out on the road together, but for now the sounds are easy to miss if you're not listening for them.

Faraday's hit with a sudden sense of longing as that thought strikes him. As much as he doesn't mind taking care of this version of Vasquez - hell, it's been surprisingly fun most of the time - he desperately misses the real thing. He and Vasquez had been teetering on the edge of ... something, prior to this, and Faraday wants to get that back, but the longer this goes on, the more afraid he is that won't happen.

Sighing, he rolls over and tries to force sleep to come.

*****

Faraday wakes the next morning to find that Vasquez is back to his usual, chipper self, a fact that comes clear when the kid literally bounces him awake in a flurry of flailing limbs and raucous demands for breakfast.

"Okay, okay, I'm up, I swear." Shaking himself free of the bed linens, Faraday rises to a sitting position accompanied by Vasquez's jumping and a now awake Roja's frantic yipping. "Enough with the flapping, alright? You're gonna fall."

Rather than look suitably chastised, Vasquez giggles and stomps around the mattress, somehow miraculously staying  
on his feet despite the churned up bedding. Faraday spends a little while watching him in the hopes he'll settle on his own until he surrenders to the inevitable and goes in for a grab.

"Come on," he says, wincing as Vasquez's delighted shrieks ring out in his ear. At least the little guy's not offended by the hasty tackle. "Breakfast is this way."

Tossing Vasquez over his shoulder, Faraday exits the bedroom accompanied by his laughing charge and Roja running in circles around his feet. Considering it a miracle when he makes it to the table without breaking his neck, he deposits Vasquez in a chair and heads for the cupboards.

"What a fuckin' madhouse," he mutters as he roots around for the items he needs for a meal. Luckily Vasquez is too busy playing with Roja to notice the profanity.

Breakfast is both a lengthy and messy affair because Vasquez seems to be full off piss and vinegar despite last night's interrupted sleep. Faraday gives getting him properly scrubbed up as a lost cause, and sets him lose in the yard as soon as he's able with the hope of wearing him out at least a little.

"Jesus wept, it's like trying to keep control of a whirlwind," he groans as Vasquez tears back and forth across the grass with Roja chasing at his heals. He places a mental wager with himself in regard to how long it'll take Vasquez to trip over an exposed root or something and wind up going for a tumble, only to immediately feel guilty about this.

"Careful where you're running there, little man," he calls, now envisioning Vasquez faceplanting into the ground. "We don't want you hurting yourself."

Vasquez pauses just long enough to shoot him an incomprehensible look, and then goes right back to investigating the bushes near the side of the house. Faraday doesn't know if he's actually found something of interest in there or only thinks he might, but he seems awful keen no matter what.

They pass the morning away in a similar fashion. Occasionally Vasquez wanders over to Faraday's place on the step to show him something notable he's found, but for the most part Faraday stays reclined in his spot with half his senses perpetually tuned for disaster while Vasquez amuses himself.

A couple hours in finds Faraday having shifted only minutely, and he's leaning backwards, idly smoking a cigarette when a shape falls over his face followed by a distinctly feminine cough. Fully expecting to find that Leni's come for an unheralded visit and is about to chew him out for being lazy or some such similar nonsense, Faraday cracks one eye open and sputters when he comes face to face with Emma Cullen.

"Hellfire, woman," he yelps with his heart thundering in his chest. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on a body like that? Christ almighty!"

Emma snickers, looking completely unperturbed, and Faraday distantly notes that she's covered in the dust of the trail but otherwise looks unscathed. He's about to point out as much when there's an odd sensation occurring in the vicinity of his elbow. Glancing down he finds that Vasquez has abandoned his game and is in the process of flattening himself against Faraday's side, gazing up at Emma with the kind of wide-eyed stare that suggests he has no recollection of her and it's making him nervous.

Tossing the remnants of his cigarette into the dirt and stomping them out, Faraday lifts Vasquez off the ground and lets him curl up in his lap. "Hey, little muchacho," he says easily. "S'all good. You remember Emma, don't you? She was kind enough to offer us up her house, and she gave you a bath your first night here."

Vasquez has suffered through the indignities of additional baths at Leni's hands in the ensuing days, so he knows what the word means at this point. His eyes narrowing, he pierces Emma with a steely gaze, as if on the off chance she might whisk him away in an attack of sudden onset cleanliness. "No banera!"

"Yes, yes," Emma laughs. "Try another refrain, you rotten child." Raising her gaze to Faraday, she adds, "He still hasn't changed back yet, I see."

Abruptly reminded of the mission Emma and the others had set out on, Faraday sits up straighter. A quick look around tells him Emma's the only one if the quartet who'd set off to track down the source of their problem currently present, and he hopes that means something good. "Did you find her?" He demands. "Please tell me she's sitting behind bars in the sheriff's office as we speak."

"Not exactly," Emma admits, and Faraday impulsively squeezes Vasquez hard enough that the boy squeaks.

"Sorry, Alejo," he says contritely, loosening his hold but refusing to let go entirely. He stares up at Emma. "What does 'not exactly' mean?"

Sighing, Emma motions for him to move over,taking the available space on the steps for herself when he does so. "It means we found her, but we couldn't hold her. Turns out there's no way to stop her from using those powers of hers, and she said if we didn't let her go, we'd be as undersized as the first three."

Faraday's heart sinks. "So you just let her go? Emma!" He nods at Vasquez, hoping to convey the full extent of the calamity here. "That was his only chance!"

"Yes, well, we discussed trying to find some way to keep her sedated while bringing her back here, but we still would've needed her conscious to reverse it. Given that she'd be in no mood to do is any favours at that point ..." Emma trails off, her issue plain.

"She did say it'd wear off on its own once we'd agreed to let her go," she adds, to which Faraday makes a scoffing sound. "It's true. She said the effects aren't permanent, and all she'd be able to do would be to expedite the inevitable."

"Bullshit," Faraday says harshly. "It might be true that she said as much, but that doesn't mean the words meant anything. For all we know she said that to get you folks to give up the chase. You should've told her you'd kill her if she didn't help."

"And wind up as four lost children wandering the plains?" Emma demands. "I don't think so Faraday. She could very well have rendered us defenceless and left us there. In which case we'd likely all have died."

"So instead Vas and the others get the life sentence. Nice." Knowing he's being unfair, but still unable to help himself, Faraday glares at her. "You were supposed to help them, and you backed down without a single shot. After everything we did for you, we deserved more."

Emma's eyes narrow and her face takes on a pinched look. "Careful, Faraday. I know this is mainly you acting out because you're worried, but you're walking on dangerous ground."

Opening up his mouth to keep on doing just that, consequences be damned, Faraday freezes when Vasquez stands unexpectedly and turns to wrap skinny arms around his neck. "Es bueno, Joshua," he says softly, "Es bueno."

"Shit," Faraday says thickly, hit with a sudden swell of emotion that he'll deny to his dying day ever experiencing. Swallowing heavily, he pats Vasquez's back, holding him in an awkward hug. "Thanks, Alejo."

Vasquez hums appreciatively, and prods at the side of Faraday's face in what he probably means to be a soothing gesture. "Estaras bien?"

"I'm fine," Faraday promises, nodding for good measure. "You helped, thank you."

Vasquez beams at him before pulling back far enough to point towards the barn where the horses are stabled. "Jack y Ciela?" He asks, his expression turning sly as Faraday laughs.

Although he's too small to even think about riding them, it's become apparent to Faraday in recent days that Vasquez's fondness for horses must have started young. He frequently wants to go visit their two mounts, and while Faraday's normally a bit cautious, he figures right now he could use the distraction.

"Yes, you little imp, we can go see 'em. Up we get." Getting to his feet while still holding Vasquez is a bit of a struggle, but he manages it and then turns to Emma. "I imagine you're going to want your house back, right?"

"Wrong," she says, surprising him. "There's no need to be turning him out of somewhere he's comfortable if this is going to be temporary. If he's still like this in a couple weeks, we can reassess."

"If he's still like this in a couple weeks, there's a solid chance I'm walking into the creek and not coming back out again," Faraday grumbles, only to immediately wilt under the vicious glare Emma cuts him. "Or not."

"Or not is right," she stays staunchly, now pointing in the direction of the barn herself. "That's enough talk like that. Take this child to visit those horses, and maybe once you've calmed down a little we can do a full rundown of what's happened while myself and the others were away."

Seeing no point in arguing with her, Faraday goes.

*****

They have supper at the inn that night. Not just himself and Vasquez, but all of their usual crew as well as Teddy and Emma. It's a rowdy affair, especially with three children thrown in the mix, and most of the other patrons give them a wide berth.

"So," says Teddy after most of the meals have been polished off - with only Vasquez and Jack still eating. "Are we going to pretend like nothing happened, or are we going to discuss the elephant in the room?"

"You mean you want to talk about how you failed to do what you were supposed to?" Faraday asks, sharply enough that even Vasquez looks up from his plate to give him a worried look. "I guess we can talk about that, sure."

Teddy opens his mouth to respond, but Emma stops him with a hand on his arm. "I already told you we found her, Faraday. We just couldn't hold her."

"Yeah, well," knowing he's being unfair, Faraday tries to get his emotions under control. It's not easy. Even after spending the afternoon avoiding everyone but Vasquez, he's still in a rotten mood. "Sorry, I guess."

"No, you're not," Emma says flatly, shrugging when Faraday flinches. "It's alright, you and Billy have a heavy stake in this as well. You're allowed to be upset."

"On the other hand," she continues on while Faraday's still trying to figure out a response, "I don't think you're looking at things clearly. Consider this, if the effects didn't reverse themselves without help, why isn't their a whole slew of towns with de-aged adults littering the area? We know we're not the first people she's hit, and I don't imagine she's sneaking back into towns during the night to turn back what she's done."

"Maybe that's true," Faraday says after he takes some time to consider this, "but I don't like that we're banking on good faith to get us out of this one. I'm a gambler, Emma. I know when the cards are shit."

"Faraday," she sighs, nodding pointedly at Vasquez.

Across from her, Billy snorts from where he's sandwiched between Goodnight and Sam, keeping both boys under his watchful eye. "You left them alone together for weeks," he says dryly. "I guarantee you Vasquez has learned all kinds of new words by now."

Glancing up at the sound of his name, Vasquez looks first at Billy, and then lets his gaze roam over each adult at the table, ending finally with Faraday. "Hay algo mal?" He asks with a frown.

"No," Faraday says, guessing that he's asking if something bad has happened. "Finish your supper," he adds, tapping the edge of the plate pointedly. "You're not getting anything else if you don't."

Vasquez gives him a confused look, but returns to his meal when Faraday taps the dish a second time. His appetite is as healthy as ever, so it rarely takes much to coax him into eating.

The table goes oddly quiet, as if they're all mesmerized by watching a toddler make his way through the same thing they have in front of them, but Vasquez doesn't seem to notice.

Finally, Horne clears his throat. "It'll be alright, son, and at least you know he's safely in good hands."

Faraday snorts, not entirely certain his bumbling efforts constitute 'good hands', but also well aware there's no way he's giving up the job to somebody else right now. Vasquez is staying with him, no question.

Eventually they all finish up, and decide to part ways for the night. Billy heads out with Goodnight and Sam running on ahead of him, and Faraday hoists Vasquez up on his hip as the remaining adults disperse.

"Where're you staying tonight?" He asks Emma as she falls into step beside him. "I don't much like the idea of kicking you out of your own home."

"Even if I did come back empty handed?" She asks winsomely, laughing when Faraday winces. "It's fine," she says when he opens his mouth to at least try and apologize, "and I'm taking your room at the boarding house. Seems only fair, wouldn't you say?"

"Guess so," Faraday agrees awkwardly.

Emma's smile grows, indicating that she at least isn't much bothered by his behaviour tonight. They walk in companionable silence until they reach the road that will take Emma to her current lodging, at which point they part with a quick nod and a quiet goodbye.

"Looks like it's down to just you and me, little man," Faraday tells Vasquez as they keep walking, and the boy surprises him by patting him on the cheek.

"Es bueno," he says firmly, the same way he had earlier in the afternoon. It appears that Faraday's doing an even worse job of hiding his upset than he'd thought.

Where he might normally request to be put down so he can explore during their walking, Vasquez lapses back into silence with his arms wrapped around Faraday's neck and his face hidden away in the fabric of his shirt. Part of Faraday feels bad for worrying him, and he tells himself sternly he needs to get out of this funk.

Roja greets them at the door when they return home, her entire body wriggling excitedly when Vasquez ambles over to her after Faraday sets him down on the ground. They take a quick moment to let her outside to do her business, and then the three of them are safely tucked away inside the little home.

Faraday's expecting Vasquez to get down on the floor to play with her, and, if not that, then to grab some of the toys scattered about the room to amuse himself with, but neither happens. Instead, he wanders into his room, leaving both Faraday and Roja to stare after him in confusion.

"Alejo?" Faraday finally calls, beginning to grow concerned when Vasquez still hasn't reemerged after several minutes have ticked by. He's just about to go in after him when he hears the telltale sound of tiny feet indicating his charge is coming back.

"The hell?" Faraday says when he catches sight of the boy. "Little man, what're you up to?"

For what has to be the first time ever since they've been residing together, Vasquez has voluntarily changed into his nightshirt. Where normally Faraday has to spend a good ten to fifteen minutes arguing with him that he needs to get ready for bed, tonight he's gone and done it all on his own, even managing to get his clothes properly situated for the most part. He's also, Faraday notices belatedly, dragging something else along with him.

Vasquez, Faraday has learned throughout this ordeal, likes being read to. Or at least the child version of him does. Never mind that there's not a single, Spanish written book in the entire town, he's perfectly content to have people drone on in English if that's all that's available - a fact that's resulted in Josiah having lent them a handful of storybooks for evenings spent indoors.

"Read, please?" He asks, holding up one that comes with a number of pictures included.

Faraday stares down at the battered cover of the book, feeling like all the colourful characters adorning it are staring back at him, especially the little girl in the blue dress who acts as the titular character. Eventually he sighs, letting go of some of his residual tension in the process.

"Sure thing, Alejo," he says. Picking up both book and boy in one go, he nudges Roja forward with the tip of his foot, wanting to get her settled for the night as well.

"Okay," he says, dropping Vasquez gently down on the centre of the bed, and then reaching out to do the same to Roja. He waits for them both to get curled up - Vasquez under the covers and Roja on top not far from his feet - before cracking the book open.

Traditional schooling wasn't something Faraday had a lot of exposure to in his day, but he can at least read well enough for Vasquez, with there being an added bonus that if he gets something wrong, neither boy nor dog will notice. As such, he reads until Vasquez's eyes start dropping shut, only stopping when he's sure his companion is no longer even trying to follow the story.

"I think that's enough for one night, little man," he says softly, noting that Vasquez doesn't bother putting up even a token protest when he closes the book and rests it on the nightstand. "Come on, let's get you tucked in."

"Joshua? Estas enojado?" Vasquez asks as Faraday pulls the covers over him, making sure he's comfortably settled.

"No," Faraday lies. He gets that Vasquez wants to know if he's angry, but he's got no way of explaining just what it is he's angry about. Hence why denial is the better course of action. "I'm fine. I promise."

"Mentiroso." Vasquez replies, his face solemn.

Faraday pauses. He's pretty sure Vasquez has said that word to him as an adult before, but he'll be damned if he can remember the mean. "It's okay," he says finally, figuring he's got no choice but to leave it be. "Everything's going to be fine."

Checking to make sure Roja's still holed up in her usual spot, Faraday gives the blankets one more quick adjustment, and then reaches over to pick up the candle resting on the nightstand. "Night, little man. I'll see you in the morning."

*****

Faraday's able to keep his growing exasperation in check for a little while longer, but by the time Emma, Horne and the others have been back for a few days, he's right back where he started. Even worse, it's getting harder not to take it out on Vasquez.

"I need you to watch him for a bit," he tells Leni seriously one morning. They've stopped into the boarding house for a properly cooked breakfast, and she's there as well for reasons Faraday didn't quite catch. "I need a break."

Leni gives him an unimpressed look over the rim of the cup in her hands, her gaze cutting sharply towards Vasquez when Faraday raises a confused eyebrow at her. "Just because he can't understand the actual words, doesn't mean you should say things like that in front of him."

Caught out, Faraday winces. "Yeah, I know," he says ashamed. "Sometimes I can't help myself though. This is getting more and more out control with each passing day."

Leni makes a sympathetic noise, but it's obvious to Faraday that she's only willing to humour him so much. Setting her cup down on the table with a faint clink, she sighs. "I'm afraid I can't take him today. I promised Laura Mae I'd help her with the linens this morning because her usual girl is out sick. You'll have to find somebody else, or if not, maybe I can spare some time tomorrow."

Faraday matches her sigh with one of his own. "Nah, it's alright. I was mainly just shooting my mouth off anyway. We're fine. Right, Alejo?"

Vasquez smiles at the sound of his name, but it's a tiny, crooked thing, not at all like the big, bright ones he usually has. He's been picking up on Faraday's less than stellar moods as of late, and it appears they're effecting him too.

Wincing at the thought, Faraday reaches out to stroke a hand through his hair, willing him to feel better. It's never been his intention to take his frustrations out on arguably the situation's biggest victim, and he doesn't want Vasquez thinking something's wrong.

"You want to come up?" He asks a little while later when they're exiting the doors to leave both Leni and the boarding house behind them. He holds out his hands to further show Vasquez what he means.

Vasquez, however, merely shakes his head. Going on ahead of Faraday, he makes his way carefully down the front porch steps to begin walking down the street. Having no particular destination in mind now that he's been denied a babysitter, Faraday follows him.

"Where're we heading, little man?" He asks as he falls into step beside his companion. "Anywhere special?"

All this does is earn him an uncomprehending look, and Vasquez keeps wandering up the street until he reaches a turn. Pointing up ahead, he gives Faraday a beseeching stare. "Caballos?"

Faraday follows his gaze to the intended target, barking out a laugh when he realizes Vasquez is leading them towards the livery stables. "Jack and Ciela ain't there, Vas. You're just gonna be looking at a bunch of horses you don't know."

"Caballos!" Vasquez says more insistently, grinning slightly, as if he can already sense his impending win where Faraday is concerned. "Joshua, please?"

And that of course seals it. Unable to resist those big brown eyes, a fact he's afraid he has regardless of what age Vasquez currently is, Faraday scoops him up and flings him over his shoulder, laughing at the boy's indignant squeaks.

"Oh, come on now," he says when Vasquez won't stop squirming. "You asked to see some horses, and I'm fine with that. However, I ain't letting you wander around all willy nilly because you don't always behave, and the whole town'll be out for my head if you meet your end getting stepped on by a member of the equine persuasion."

Vasquez stops moving, and cranes his entire body around to stare at Faraday like he's lost his mind. "Eh?"

"Yeah," Faraday says, still laughing, "I didn't expect you to get that one either."

There aren't too many horses out in the pen this morning, and only one Faraday recognizes. Of their crew of seven, only Faraday, Vasquez, and Sam keep rooms in town, meaning their horses normally stay here too. However, with Jack and Ciela out at Emma's, that means only Sam's mount is still around.

The black horse pricks up his ears when Faraday whistles softly to him, but makes no move to come over. Sighing, Faraday props Vasquez up on the lower rung of the fence enclosing the pen, holding him steady so he doesn't fall while they wait to see if any of the other horses will come over to investigate their arrival. A few do, and Faraday lets Vasquez amuse himself that way until he grows bored.

"Alright, Alejo," he starts, and this time he doesn't bother to ask if Vasquez wants to come up, just sets him on his hip and has done with it. "Let's head home."

Except it's not home, not really, Faraday thinks as he trudges up the path that'll take them to Emma's farmhouse. It's a borrowed place where neither of them really fits in, no matter how much they may pretend otherwise.

"Christ, I need to shake this mood somehow," Faraday mutters as they arrive at the house and he starts walking up the steps. Ignoring Vasquez's inquisitive glance, he hauls the door open, confused when Roja doesn't immediately come skidding out to greet them.

Worried something might have happened to the pup, Faraday takes a tentative step inside, wary of letting Vasquez get a look at whatever may be waiting for them. In the end, however, it turns out he needn't have bothered. Roja's happily ensconced in the main room, playing tug of war with Emma, who's apparently let herself in without warning.

Faraday pulls up short, Vasquez oofing slightly into his chest when the motion rocks him back and forth unexpectedly. "Is that one of my socks?"

Abruptly releasing the article of clothing, Emma laughs as Roja tumbles backwards with the cloth still in her mouth. "Well, I was hardly going to use one of my own now was I?"

"Nice," Faraday grunts, setting Vasquez down on the floor in the hope that he'll serve as a distraction to the dog, thereby allowing the sock to be rescued. "What are you doing here, Emma?"

"Babysitting," she replies promptly, kicking one foot lazily at the floor as she watches Vasquez start to wrestle with Roja. "I happened to run into Leni a while ago, and she happened to mention you looked like you could use a little time to yourself, so I decided to make that happen."

Faraday eyes her skeptically. "You ain't had him on your own much," he says slowly, "or at all, really." He knows that might come off as rude, but he honestly doesn't mean for it to be. Vasquez makes for a friendly child so long as he's comfortable, but take that away and he's miserable.

For her part, however, Emma doesn't seem concerned. Leaning back in her chair, she smiles down at Vasquez. "I'll just mind him for a couple of hours," she says, "and I won't even try to give him a bath. He might not even notice you're gone."

Given the way Vasquez always seems to know where he is, Faraday finds that unlikely. On the other hand, he really could use that break he'd mentioned to Leni earlier. Sighing, he comes to a decision.

"He's due for a nap in about an hour," he instructs. "Don't forget, and don't let him try and get away without it. He's an absolute little savage when he's overtired. If he puts up a fuss you can usually trick him into lying down by reading to him. Once he's horizontal, sleep should do the rest."

There's a specific tilt to Emma's mouth that makes him think she's considering teasing him. She must conquer the urge, though, because her face smoothed out, and she nods seriously. "Got it. Anything else I should know?"

"Sediento means thirsty. Hambriento means hungry. He knows the English words for both, but probably won't use them if he's feeling shy. Use acostarse to get him into bed, and for the love of god come find me if he gets overly upset. There's no point in making everyone miserable."

Emma eyes him as he runs out of steam, her smile becoming kinder in the face of his instructions. "We'll be fine, Faraday," she assures. "Go find yourself a game of cards or something, and an adult conversation. It'll do you good."

"Mmm," nodding, Faraday gives Vasquez a quick goodbye coupled with a request to behave. Then he's backing out of the room and ducking through the door before Emma has a chance to change her mind.

The saloon's half empty when he stops in, which isn't much of a surprise considering it's still fairly early in the day. What is a surprise is Teddy Q's presence at one of the tables. Normally the younger man can be found working out on his farm at this time.

"I was in the mood for a break, so I took one," Teddy says when Faraday drops down across from him and says as much. "Man's gotta have lunch at some point, and I didn't feel like cooking today. What about you? Where's your tiny shadow?"

"Emma's got him," Faraday explains. "She seems to think I need a little time off. With luck the house will still be standing, and they'll both still be alive when I get back."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Teddy says confidently.

Faraday grunts in return.

He decides to swing by Billy's once he's finished up eating, and that's when it happens. He hears the shouting before he sees anyone, and when he rounds the last corner that'll take him to the little house, he comes face to face with more of Goodnight and Sam - fully grown Goodnight and Sam than he's ever cared to see. It looks like just like last time, their clothes haven't adjusted for their new size.

"Son of a bitch!" He barks, coming to a stop in front of the house. It's not that he means to, but he can't help but stare.

"Faraday!" Goodnight yelps. His face hearing, he tries in vain to cover himself up with some of the larger scraps of clothing still hanging off his body, while beside him Sam seems considerably more stoic about his ongoing nudity. "What in god's name is going on."

As it happens, Billy chooses now to come bursting out of the house in the middle of the commotion, his eyes initially locked on Goodnight before he forces his gaze away to look at Faraday.

"You go check on yours," he says flatly. "I'll handle things here."

Not having to be told twice, Faraday nods, and whirls around back in the direction he'd come, wanting to be one place and one place only.

*****

"Please be back. Please be back. Please be back." Chanting steadily to himself, Faraday tears up the path to the farmhouse, bursting inside with a shove that sets the front door rattling on its hinges.

Emma gapes at him as he comes in, her head jerking up from where she's idly scratching Roja's belly with one hand. "Faraday, what?"

"Goodnight and Sam are back," he says hurriedly, willing her to follow what he's trying to say. He glances at the closed door of the spare bedroom, assuming that's where Vasquez is. "Is he -?"

"I have no idea," Emma admits. "I put him down for a nap like you said, and haven't seen him since. Why don't I just head out for now, and you can deal with this?"

Nodding gratefully at her, Faraday barely registers her leaving as he moves to the bedroom and yanks the door open.

Because it's the middle of the afternoon, the curtains being closed only dims the room so much, meaning there's more than enough light to see the fully grown man asleep in the bed. Like Sam and Goodnight it appears Vasquez's rapid shift in size had destroyed the clothing he'd been napping in, and only the fact that the blankets are still in place preserves his dignity.

For the briefest of seconds, Faraday considers reacting like a totally rational man, and gently shaking Vasquez awake. Then he decides to hell with it, and launches himself onto the bed, landing heavily on Vasquez's torso, and sending the other man flailing.

"Que mierda -?!" Vasquez starts swearing viciously as Faraday pins him to the bed. "Joshua, what the hell?!"

"Shut up," Faraday says calmly, and then kisses him.

It is frankly an awful kiss. Vasquez obviously isn't expecting it, and he has his mouth half open - no doubt to continue railing at Faraday for his behaviour. His brain must catch up with the rest of him eventually, however, because after he's done making startled noises, his entire bearing shifts, and he makes a pleased sound as he relaxes into Faraday's hold.

"Hi," Faraday says when he can finally force himself to pull away. He gazes down at Vasquez, holding the man's face in his hands to keep him from going anywhere. "You're back."

Vasquez's mouth curves into a grin as he looks up at Faraday, seeming somewhat confused, but willing to play along. "Hola, guero," he says fondly. "I didn't realize I went anywhere."

Faraday stares at him, needing time for the meaning of those words to sink in. He blinks slowly. "You saying you don't remember what happened?"

His question is met with Vasquez shaking his head. "The last thing I recall, Sam, Goodnight and I had our bounty cornered. Then it's just you trying to crush me with your body, and we are here. Wherever here is," he adds, glancing around curiously. "Who's house is this?"

"Emma's," Faraday replies. "She's been letting us stay here while we waited for you to ... get better."

Vasquez frowns. "Don't feel like I've been sick." He wriggles slightly, as if only now remembering what's happening. "You're still sitting on me, and you kissed me."

"I am, and I did," Faraday agrees, completely unashamedly. He also considers pointing out that Vasquez had kissed him back, but figures he may as well give the man some time to gather his wits. "Been wanting to for a while now, but then you threw a wrench in the works and made it impossible."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Vasquez tells him. "Make sense."

Faraday thinks this over. "I promise I'll tell you everything, even though you probably won't believe any of it, but first I'm going to kiss you again, so if you have a problem with that you better tell me now."

Vasquez indicates that he does not, in fact, have a problem with it, so Faraday suits action to words.

*****

"I'm still not sure that I believe your story."

Sprawled across the bed in his recently reclaimed room at the boarding house, Faraday blinks out of the half-asleep stupor he's been relaxing in, and glances over at where Vasquez is leaning back against the window, distractedly smoking one of his beloved cigarellos.

"Hmm?" Faraday asks, still not fully awake.

"Your story," Vasquez repeats. "The one where I was a child for weeks. It is very ... fantastical, wouldn't you say?"

"Not sure that's the word I'd use," Faraday grunts. Rising up on his elbows, he shuffles around until he's more or less propped upright against the pillows, meaning he can now better look Vasquez in the eye. "You saying you think I made the whole thing up?"

Vasquez snorts and makes a show of stubbing his smoke out in the nearest ashtray before focusing on Faraday. "If it was just you telling it, then maybe, but I doubt you'd have managed to get the whole town on board and have them stick with it."

"Yeah, not likely," Faraday agrees. It's been three days since the spell or whatever it was has worn off, and Vasquez, Sam and Goodnight have all thoroughly interrogated their recent caregivers over the truth, each time coming back with the same results, much to their chagrin. "Someone would've slipped up by now if it was all a big joke."

"Exactly, that's what I mean," Vasquez replies. "Still, you get that it is nevertheless hard to believe, yes?"

"'Course," Faraday gives him a one shoulder shrug and a lazy grin. "Hell, I find myself questioning whether or not it was real, and I lived it."

"Mm. I wish I could remember," Vasquez says slowly. "It's unpleasant knowing there's such a large gap in my memory. Anthony was telling me earlier about evenings passed with himself and his father at their home, it all meant nothing to me."

"Might be its better that way," Faraday suggests, "unless you want to think about all the times she's tossed you buck naked and shrieking into a bathtub when you look at Leni Frankel, or how you pitched the mother of all tantrums when Josiah told you to put away his son's old toys for the night, or how we learned the hard way that you were a kid who absolutely needed his afternoon nap, or - "

"Yes, yes," Vasquez cuts him off with a sharp wave of his hand, his cheeks tinting noticeably even though the room's lit by only a single candle. "You've made your point, guero, thank you."

Faraday snickers. "I've got a whole bunch more stories where those came from," he warns. "Don't think I won't use 'em against you if necessary."

"That's cruel, Joshua," Vasquez informs him, and Faraday notes how he pronounces the name differently now he's grown again. "I'm at your mercy where those tales are concerned."

"Aw, Vas, you know I'm only kidding." Patting the empty space on the bed beside him, he motions for Vasquez to claim it. "C'mere, would you? Don't make me have to get up."

Rolling his eyes, Vasquez gives him a look that suggests he thinks Faraday is an idiot, but nevertheless settles into the indicated spot. "Happy now?" He asks, smirking when Faraday lifts a hand up to trail searching fingers over his cheek, scratching at the dark scruff that's now back where it belongs.

"Can't complain," Faraday admits. This thing between them is still new, only a few days old, but Faraday hadn't been willing to waste a second given what they've recently been through, and Vasquez had proved to be equally interested once he'd gotten over the initial shock. "God, I'm glad you're back."

"Me too," Vasquez says simply, nipping playfully at one of Faraday's fingers when it grazes over his mouth. "And if I haven't said so already ... thank you, for looking out for me when I needed you to. It's been a long time since anyone was willing to do that for me."

Pretty sure he can feel himself blushing, Faraday plays off the compliment. "It wasn't just me, the whole town really was involved," he says. "And besides, you were an awfully cute little fella. I doubt I could've resisted your charms for long."

"I see," Vasquez says dryly. "And do my charms still work on you now?"

Faraday grins. "Let's find out."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Major props to anyone who makes it through all this without telling me I'm crazy. :P


End file.
